


Jinhwan's (Secret) Lover

by loser1419



Category: iKON (Korea Band)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, some are platonic..i think hehe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2020-11-25 23:49:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20920667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loser1419/pseuds/loser1419
Summary: Jinhwan has been in a relationship for two years, but none seems to know about it, not even his friends and coworkers, who has been with him years longer until one night. The topic opened rooms for discussion, and speculations arose. Who is Jinhwan's secret lover?





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> this is self indulgent, as what most of my fics are but for the first time it aint angst ;)

Jinhwan is out to drink on a Friday night. Their company secured a huge deal with an important client, and to celebrate their success, their Head offered them all free drinks at a local bar near their office. Everyone had cheered—because who wouldn't for anything free, but the moment their Head left for home and they had finished their free drinks, Jinhwan and his friends bade their goodbyes to the rest of their coworkers. Not so they could go home as what they explained though, but just to transfer to their favorite club at a secluded part of the city, not so far from the initial bar they're in.

Don't get them wrong, there's no bad blood between Jinhwan's group and anyone from their office that would prompt them to sneak out. It's just that, after the first drink, he caught the eyes of his friends and they all shared a silent agreement that the drink tasted bland and not to their taste. In this place, at their favorite go-to whenever they wanted to unwind or celebrate, has far much better drinks that they could offer that's why they only linger for a while before eventually leaving that bar.

They all took a cab to work, which means that they could all drink to their heart's content since no one will drive them to their possible death. Jinhwan doesn't feel like waking up the next day with a terrible headache though, so he opted for a lighter alcohol and drinks moderately. Their units are not that far off from the club, but Jinhwan still chose to be the only responsible adult by being sober so he could watch over them when it's time to go home later. His friends are dumb, but much even more so whenever they're drunk.

Jinhwan stayed at their booth while the rest of his friends are on the dancefloor, fondly shaking his head when he hears the loud cheers and Junhoe's big head bopping to the music among the hectic crowd.

* * *

Jinhwan is definitely sober but he's starting to feel a bit sleepy despite the loud music—probably because of the lack of sleep that he had for the entire week, so he made a trip towards the washroom to splash his face with some water in hopes of waking himself up a bit. It helps, thankfully, because the water was colder than what he had expected it to be, and he feels refreshed especially after losing his tie and freeing a couple of buttons on his dress shirt. He checks his reflection in the mirror for the last time, and then he's going out and into the loud crowd again.

After some flirty smiles and glances that he got on his short trip back to their booth, Jinhwan is surprised to see that Yunhyeong and Donghyuk were already back. He stares at them for a moment, before an idea popped into his mind. Jinhwan smiles a little before discreetly coming closer, and when he's finally close enough, he unceremoniously flops down beside them, laughing out loud when the two lets out an unmanly shriek as they bounced a little from their seat, clearly not aware of his presence beforehand. Jinhwan receives a glare along with a soft push courtesy of Yunhyeong, while Donghyuk just pouts at him.

"Sorry, sorry, don't know where I'm going. I'm already drunk." Jinhwan apologizes, even though it's crystal clear that he doesn't mean it, obviously still amused by the duo's reaction earlier. He moves a little away from the two, just in case they do something out of revenge.

"Drunk my ass, you only drank 1 glass here ever since we left the bar earlier." Yunhyeong reminds him, in which Jinhwan just answers with a shrug.

"By the way, why are you just sitting here? Are you too old to party now?"

"Nah, I decided to be your nanny for tonight." Jinhwan ignores the jab at his age because he's feeling much better, thanks to his prank earlier. "Where are the others though and why are you here?"

"I returned first because some woman is trying to pull me somewhere. I mean, I know I'm hot, but she should know her limits." Donghyuk explains. Jinhwan doesn't know if he should be worried, or be irked at the younger's confidence. "I left her immediately when she turns around. I don't know about the others though, we all separated after the first 30 mins."

"There's a lot more people today than the last time we're here. Probably because it's the end of the month or something." Yunhyeong continues, as he downs on his halfway full glass. Based on the time and on Yunhyeong's not so strong tolerance in alcohol, Jinhwan guesses that the man will fully get drunk in the next thirty minutes.

"Okay, why don't you go back there again? It's—" Jinhwan tries to check the time on his watch, and then he's giving up because the numbers are way too small and the dim lighting isn't really helping. "It's peak time, I think, since a lot of people are coming in."

"Nah, I'll pass. Don't want to run in on that persistent lady again."

Jinhwan nods, and then he turns to look at Yunhyeong for his answer.

"Aww, so eager to kick us away hyung?"

Jinhwan grimaces at the failed attempt at cutesy, and yep, Yunhyeong is definitely already tipsy now.

* * *

It's Chanwoo who comes back to their booth next. Contrary to what he said earlier, Donghyuk ran back fast onto the dancefloor when the DJ played his favorite song, leaving Jinhwan alone in their booth again. Chanwoo came back moments later, looking so weary and ready to go home. 

Jinhwan pats the space beside him, ready to offer comfort to their youngest. Chanwoo was never a sociable person, and it shows especially on occasions like this.

Jinhwan offers to get him a drink, but Chanwoo refuses. He sighs instead, as Jinhwan presses home on his phone (he's tinkering his phone when Chanwoo arrived), before pocketing it, choosing to shower their youngest with his full attention like a good friend that he is. 

"What happened to you?" Jinhwan begins as Chanwoo rubs his temples tiredly. By what he had seen on his phone, it's still pretty early so even if he wants to drag the boys home to spare his and Chanwoo's misery, he can't because the rest of his friends will surely be against it. 

"I was chilling alone at the counter, you know, minding my own stuff, when Yunhyeong hyung suddenly came out of nowhere to bother me." Chanwoo pauses and looks at Jinhwan. Jinhwan doesn't understand what that look meant so he just pats the younger's back to console him, which is probably the right thing since Chanwoo nodded before continuing. "He's already drunk, hyung. Can we just go home now?"

"As much as I want to, kiddo, we can't." Chanwoo's face fell as he pouts and Jinhwan scoots closer to pinch his cheeks because he's acting like a baby. He's usually tough, and it's easy to forget that he's so much younger than they are because of how his mind works, so whenever Chanwoo acts like this, Jinhwan will make sure to savor it. 

Donghyuk noted before that their actions towards Chanwoo are the reason why the youngest was rarely seen acting his age, but that won't stop Jinhwan from still acting the same.

"Ah hyung, stop it." Chanwoo swats his hands before it could pinch his other cheek. Jinhwan interprets this as a motivation to try harder, since Chanwoo is still not giving him  _ those _ eyes yet. He's still safe to annoy. "I seriously left the counter to avoid drunk and annoying Yunhyeong hyung, so please don't make me leave too."

"Nah, you won't leave, you love me more anyway."

"Who told you--"

And that's how Bobby found them—with Jinhwan almost on Chanwoo's lap as they wrestle. Jinhwan obviously is the attacker, and Chanwoo as the poor victim who is defending his poor cheeks.

"Aren't you two acting all lovey dovey? That's real cute." Bobby says, before sitting on the opposite couch. Chanwoo stops momentarily to look at his other obviously tipsy hyung, and Jinhwan saw it as an opportunity to sneak a pinch on his left cheek. Chanwoo whines loud enough that it could almost overpower the music, while Jinhwan goes back to sit properly beside the sulking maknae, beaming triumphantly.

"Don't be jealous, I'll pinch your cheeks later too." Jinhwan bats his eyelashes at him even though he's sure that Bobby could barely see him through the haze of alcohol and rapidly blinking lights. He hears Chanwoo fake a gag from beside him, but he pays him no mind. 

"Nah, I'll pass." Bobby waves a dismissing hand at them. "Go to the dancefloor instead of bothering Chanu."

"Right!"

"Nah, I'll pass." Jinhwan replies, copying Bobby's words and actions earlier, before laughing because he thinks he looks ridiculous saying that. He doesn't know why he feels quite happy even if he's 100% sober, which is a rare occasion.

"Hyung, just do us a favor and go. Get laid or something, I don't know."

Jinhwan looks for something to drink on their table, but there are only empty glasses left, and he's too lazy to get up for a refill. "Since when did I do that, huh?"

"Come to think of it, we've never seen you hook up."

"That's because I am decent." Jinhwan grabs a glass and empties it, sighing dejectedly when the alcohol doesn't even reach past his throat.

"Oh, come on. Maybe you could start today!" Bobby seems way too enthusiastic with his own suggestion— like he's just suggesting a simple hobby and not something so explicit.

"Hyung, look at that lady on the next table. She's been looking at you for quite a while. Go make a move on her." Out of curiosity, Jinhwan follows Chanwoo's direction and true enough, a lady is looking at them. Chanwoo could be wrong though, or his eyesight, or the lady is looking somewhere else instead. Either way, Jinhwan is still not interested.

"How about some men? There are a lot of good looking men tonight." Bobby surprises him when he suddenly moves closer to sit on his other side. Jinhwan just rolls his eyes, as he tries to wiggle away because he's being sandwiched by the two.

"Nope, sorry." 

Bobby looks as surprised as Chanwoo at his answer, for what though, Jinhwan doesn't know. 

"Then hyung, who do you want? Maybe we could help?"

"Hey, hey why are you crowding Jinhwan hyung?" 

Jinhwan exhales a breath of relief at the interruption. It's Hanbin who arrives and takes Bobby's previous seat, followed by Junhoe who's eyeing them weirdly. Jinhwan tries to plead for help through his eyes, but his message fell through when they both just focused on making themselves comfortable on their seats. Useless friend.

"So? We're waiting, hyung." 

"No one, really. I'm fine, thank you." Jinhwan eventually says. "Now, if both of you could just move a little then—"

"Don't tell us," Bobby gasps, as Jinhwan stops mid sentence, annoyed by the interruption. 

"Don't tell what?"

Jinhwan glances at Chanwoo, and he's a bit glad that the younger is as clueless at Bobby's sudden theatrics. He must've underestimated him earlier, because maybe, Bobby's already drunk.

"You're asexual?"

Jinhwan holds his breath, and when Bobby's words begin to sink in on his mind, he did the most appropriate thing given the situation. 

He laughs.

"Asexual?" Jinhwan repeats, laughing harder at the incredulous look on both of his friend's faces. "I'm in a relationship of two years, please."

"You what?" They both exclaimed, and Jinhwan immediately stops from laughing. He's expecting them to throw a joke at the end, but when he gets none, it's now his turn to look at them in disbelief.

Wait, seriously? They're not aware of it?

("_Hey guys, what are you talking about?" _

_ "Hush, Junhoe. We got some tea!") _


	2. Bobby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bobby didn't react to the news well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> double update so... see u in another two weeks!! lolol

Bobby is sure that he's pretty transparent. He hears it every time from people he just met, from his friends, colleagues and family. He thinks he wears his heart on his sleeve too, because it's not in his nature to hide anything from anyone—whether it's a good feeling or a bad one. He's pretty much an open book for anyone to read, but he's starting to doubt it when a certain man still can't pick up all the blatant signs he's dropped so far. 

Either that, or he's just being ignored, which frankly, annoys (and hurts) him more. 

"Hyung, you've been glaring at Jinhwan hyung for a while." 

Bobby rips his attention away from his oblivious working hyung, to briefly acknowledge Chanwoo, who is suddenly standing beside him. As far as he remembered earlier, he's alone when he entered their pantry.

Chanwoo sips on his cup of milk, as he tries to check out Jinhwan too. Bobby hastily pulls him back and inside their pantry when Jinhwan looks into their direction, seemingly feeling the weight of their stares.

"Ah, ah, hyung," Chanwoo whines, surprised by the quite violent reaction. He's prying Bobby's tight hold on his cuffs while balancing his still full mug on his other hand, and he's doing a poor job at it judging by the stains on the floor. 

"Hyung, chill. Let me go now, or else I'll spill all the milk here." Chanwoo reasons out, and when Bobby looks like he's still in a daze, he adds, "And If I really spill, I'll tell everyone it's you who did it and you'll have to mop the pantry floor for a week."

At this, Bobby thankfully snaps back to reality. He finally lets go on his hold, and steps back a little, but not without casting a fleeting glance towards the door. It won't take a genius to know that it's intended for Jinhwan.

"Are you two fighting?" Chanwoo finally asks, intrigued. Bobby's shoulder sags, but he doesn't give him an answer. Instead, he marches across the room and towards the counter, grumbling under his breath as he prepares for his own mug of coffee. Poor coffee maker, having to be in the receiving end of Bobby's rough mood.

No verbal answer, but Chanwoo will take that as a yes, they're really fighting.

Chanwoo slithers closer, because he didn't particularly like teas except if it's from his own friends, and right now, he smells a fresh one brewing. 

"It's my first time seeing you two fight." Chanwoo starts, much to Bobby's utter annoyance. "I mean, you always bicker together, but it'll be okay after a day. Something tells me that it's not the case now."

Bobby looks at him blankly, before saying, "I never peg you as a gossiper, usually that's for Yunhyeong and Donghyuk, but surprise." 

"Evading now too, huh."

"Chanwoo," Bobby's voice is low, but Chanwoo doesn't know it could drop even lower. "If you value your newly bought incredulously expensive keyboard, then I suggest you stop right there."

"What's going on?" 

"Hyung!"

Hanbin raises his brow at the two males, curious on what he's walked in on. Chanwoo immediately hid behind him, looking much shaken with his eyes wide open. Bobby on the other hand, looks calm but the corner of his mouth twitches ever so slightly. Hanbin hates that he knows every little quirks of his friends because from that alone, he could conclude that Bobby is annoyed.

"Hyung, you've been out of your area for so long. Jinani hyung says he saw you here, so I followed to check up on you." Hanbin notices the way Bobby scrunches his nose at the mention of Jinhwan's name, but he decides not to comment on it. Bobby is really like an open book.

"I'm fine, I'll go back after finishing my mug." 

"Chanwoo, go back to work. Yunhyeong hyung wants you to do something." 

"Right!" Chanwoo immediately dumps what remains in his mug on the sink, quickly washes it off and puts it back on the rack. He left without looking back, except for a whispered " _ sorry _ " at Bobby in which Hanbin fortunately heard.

Hanbin waits for Bobby to say something after they were left alone, but the former seems intent on ignoring his presence. He sighs, because they don't have all day to just watch each other.

"What did you do to the kid?" 

"Nothing." Comes the immediate reply. Hanbin raises his brow at that, calling it bullshit.

"He won't act like that if it's just nothing."

Bobby glares at him, but Hanbin doesn't do much as blink, unfazed by the reaction. It only takes him mere minutes before he yields, immediately realizing that he can't shake Hanbin like what he does to others. 

"Fine, I threatened to break his imported keyboard if won't stop poking his nose in other's business." 

"That's not very nice." 

"That's rich, coming from you." 

Hanbin's face hardens for a fraction, and Bobby can't take it back even if he wishes too because Hanbin is opening his mouth to scold him.

"I don't know what's your problem, or with Jinani hyung, but you don't have to direct your anger to anyone." Bobby looks away, a little embarrassed that Hanbin hits the bullseye. The younger man is also talking in his rare authoritative tone, and he hates that he's right and he can't argue with him. "Month end is near, and we'll need to do more work. Go back to your desk and check the files I mailed to you, and then we'll talk about your problem."

"I'm fine." 

"No you're not." Hanbin insists. "Now hyung, please do what I say, and go back to work."

There's really no use in lying to Hanbin. Bobby sighs, and then he's following Chanwoo's action earlier, except he's much more calm and less in a hurry. 

"Okay, I'll work now, then talk later."

Hanbin's face softens, and Bobby is once again reminded on why he's their leader for a reason. 

"Thank you."

* * *

Bobby was so swamped in his work for the entire day that he had almost forgotten about his promised talk with Hanbin. He's preparing to leave, when Donghyuk came knocking in his area, asking him to visit Hanbin's space immediately. 

That was 10 minutes ago and now, he's sitting in front of Hanbin, much more relaxed than earlier that's why it doesn't take much coaxing for him to spill everything. 

"I don't understand it, you know?" Hanbin hums, amused at the elder's outburst but he doesn't say anything more, so Bobby continues, "Jinani and I are best friends, how could he not tell me that he's in a relationship? You're his best friend too, do you know about it?"

"Well, no. But being best friends doesn't give us the ticket to know everything about him."

"See! You don't know about it too. That makes me a bit better since I initially thought I'm the only one who's left in the dark." 

Hanbin almost wants to facepalm himself because it seems like Bobby only heard the first part of his answer, and not the rest of it. 

"Do you think the others know it too?" Hanbin is about to shake his head for an answer, when Bobby continues. "No, right? That would be impossible. We're living in the same floor, I'm his best friend and I don't even know it!"

Hanbin sighs as he discreetly checks his watch. Bobby is still not showing any signs of stopping his rants soon, and as much as he wants to be there for his best friend while he loses his mind over such a simple thing, he can't. He has to prepare for a meeting tomorrow, and he still needs to catch up with some hours of sleep because he could now slowly feel the effects of sleepless nights he's pulled for three straight days. When he invited Bobby over for a talk, he wasn't expecting him to go off like this. 

"How could I—,"

"Hyung, you sound like an in denial teenager who just found out his longtime crush was dating."

It's effective because Bobby stops mid rant, as he opens and closes his mouth repeatedly, like a comical indignant goldfish. It's such a funny sight. Hanbin thinks he probably broke him when Bobby continues to act that way.

Bobby eventually finds his voice back after a couple of beats, shrieking out a very uncharacteristic "No", acting as if Hanbin's earlier words were a blasphemy. Hanbin would like to point out that he's starting to shift in his seat, an embarrassed or uneasy tick of his, but he's willing to look past it just because he wants to go home soon. 

Now that Bobby looks like he's rooted to reality now instead of how he's just wrapped in his own monologues earlier, Hanbin decides to solve everything once and for all.

"Why are you so worked up over this?" Bobby opens his mouth to answer, but Hanbin beats him to it, already knowing what the elder has to say. "Aside from the fact that you're his best friend."

"I just feel sad." 

Hanbin nods his head, encouraging him to continue. He could now feel that they're starting to head in the right direction. 

"Because," Bobby heaves a breath, pausing a little to probably gather his thoughts, and then he's ready to go again. "I'm supposed to be his best friend and I'm not aware of it."

Hanbin clenches his fist from under his table to contain himself from exploding. He thought that they're already making progress, but they're still back to square one. Maybe he needs to resign to his fate that he's really going to spend the next hour here with Bobby instead of the quality sleep that he's planning to get.

"Don't plan my murder and unclench your fist please." Hanbin returns his attention to his now solemn hyung, surprised that he knows even though he's sure that his hands are hidden from his view. 

"See, I even know your reactions and these little things and yet I didn't even noticed that huge detail about Jinani."

Hanbin listens to Bobby, as he puts both of his hands on top of his table, leaning forward, his interest piqued. Whatever his hyung is about to say, Hanbin could  _ really _ feel that it will be real. 

"Jinani was there to help me plan my anniversaries or little surprises. He was there to cheer me up in his own little ways whenever my relationship was on the rocks. He was there to join me drink on my break ups." Bobby explains, and yeah, this is finally his heart speaking. "He's just always there, you know? Even if I don't want anyone to be there, he stayed. When I know I'm being insufferable, he stayed. When I needed some relationship advice, all I needed was to knock on his apartment, or wait inside, and he'll gladly help. Sometimes he's rough first before offering his help but the point is, he's always there to help."

Bobby is surprised at himself too for spilling everything out like this, baring his heart for them to dissect, but he's always been like this and he guesses that trying to hide it from everyone was toxic. It's for the same reason why he's sitting here anyway, because he snapped at poor Chanwoo for trying to help him. He shouldn't have, and he makes a mental note to apologize to their youngest tomorrow. 

"I kind of feel like a bummer. I've been insensitively trying to set Jinani to people when he's already in a relationship."

"No, hyung. You just didn't know." 

"Which makes it much worse." Bobby points out. "I first thought it was just a joke, but then Jinani was never one to joke about stuff like that. I thought a lot about it the day after, and the days that follows and everything started to make sense somehow. I just didn't know why I didn't pick up the clues earlier. I started to think that maybe I was too focused on my own self that I overlook things about Jinani."

Hanbin exhales loudly, and when Bobby turns to look at him, he's wearing some indescribable look on his face. It's like a mixture of amusement, worry, pity and a whole lot more. 

"Jesus, hyung. I didn't know you were already this deep. I just thought you're acting childish over it and decided to ignore hyung for the entire week as a revenge." 

"You noticed that I'm ignoring Jinani?"

Hanbin looks at him as if he suddenly grows three heads.

"Of course? Pretty sure everyone has an idea but they're either too busy or scared to bring it up to you." Hanbin tsked, as he remembers something. "I mean, they have reasons to be scared because, exhibit A: Chanwoo."

Bobby groans, because now that he's level headed, it finally dawns to he really did him dirty. 

"I first asked him to fetch you earlier to talk, but he didn't want to, even if I offered something as an exchange. You need to apologize to him soon, or else he'll fear you from now on."

"Yeah, yeah. No need to remind me, I will apologize first thing in the morning."

"Good. He deserves that."

"Thank you," Bobby hesitates for a second, can't quite grasp what he's actually thanking for, before settling with, "For this. For listening."

Hanbin smiles a genuine one, the smile that reaches his eyes, as he calmly says "Always, hyung."

Bobby nods in lieu of an answer, finally feeling that he gained some peace back now. It always feels better to talk to someone about the things that bother him, instead of just keeping it in. Usually, the listener task goes to Jinhwan, but since he's the reason why he's venting out like this, he never knew that Hanbin could be a good substitute. They used to talk like this back in the days, but when the younger was assigned as their team leader and work got tougher and heavier, their talks dwindled until Bobby got used to the fact that it will never be the same as before. It's okay for him though, because Jinhwan stays the same, but he never knew how much he missed talking his heart his out to one of his other best friends until today. After this day, he'll make sure that moments like this will continue.

Bobby is about to call it a day and leave—he's already standing and so is Hanbin, when he realizes something from the latter's words. 

"Wait," Hanbin looks at him, puzzled. "By everyone, you mean even Jinani noticed?"

And as if on cue, the bathroom door opens, revealing the very subject of their whole discussion today. 

_ Fuck _ , this can't be happening.

"Hanbin, you need to restock your tissues." Is what Jinhwan has to say, as he casually strolls towards them. "It's empty now."

"Again?" I just restocked it last week. You all need to stop being lazy and use the bathroom at the end of the hall instead of mine." 

Jinhwan stops right in front of Bobby, but he isn't looking at him. He reaches out between the table to land a soft flick on Hanbin's forehead—one that he's sure the younger saw coming, but chooses to let their eldest do it anyway.

"Aww," Hanbin says as he caresses his 'wounded' forehead, acting as though the action pained him deeply. "Is this how you thank me?" 

"Welcome."

Bobby decides to butt in before the two completely forgot that he's even there. Jinhwan looks way too smug, seemingly proud of his own comeback at Hanbin, and it's starting to unnerve him how he's still not being acknowledged. 

"Jinhwan hyung."

At this, Jinhwan thankfully doesn't need to be told twice, as he turns to him with a huge grin that could almost split his face in half. He's way too happy for someone who just eavesdropped and stayed at Hanbin's bathroom for god knows how long.

"No nicknames? You're that mad?" 

Bobby brushes the comment off, as he focuses on important details instead. "How long have you been in there?"

"Long enough." 

For the first time today, he doesn't like the way Jinhwan smiles. It's full of mischief, and it's blatant that he's heard more than what he's comfortable with.

Hanbin makes a small noise at the back of his throat, and Bobby turns to look at him just in time to see him roll his eyes. 

"He's been there before you even came in."

Bobby groans, as he slumps his weight back in his seat. He's beyond embarrassed, because well, while he only said the truth, he isn't ready for Jinhwan to hear them all yet. It's all unfiltered, and  _ oh god _ , he could feel his face grow hot now.

"Don't be dramatic." Jinhwan remarks, and Bobby almost wants to snap because he has every right to act like this. Hanbin walks away as he goes somewhere in his room, maybe to prepare his things before he goes home, leaving him with Jinhwan standing in front of him. 

"I noticed you're avoiding me, but I just chalked it up as you being so busy with your own reports. I was busy too so I just let it go, until I noticed you glaring at me from across the pantry and acting all weird today. I didn't confirm it until Hanbin brought it up and here we are."

Bobby grimaces upon remembering the little incident at the pantry earlier. He still can't look at the elder though, so he opts to watch as Hanbin shuffles around, picking up his things from his cabinet and numerous drawers.

"So…?"

Still stubbornly refusing to look at Jinhwan, Bobby continues to ask questions.

"Then why are you hiding in Hanbin's bathroom?"

Hanbin stops from pacing to answer him. So he's still listening.

"Well, hyung thought it'll be best to hide since he figured you'll just run away and spout nonsense when confronted. You kind of did for the first half tonight, but you eventually came around." 

And then Hanbin resumes from whatever he's doing, while Bobby continues to deflate from his seat.

"Needless to say, I'm touched."

"Don't mock me."

"No one's mocking you here, Bobby. It's the truth." At the sincerity of Jinhwan's voice, Bobby finally decides that he's thrown enough childish tantrums today. He faces Jinhwan, looking up to him since the latter is still standing. Under normal occurrence, then Bobby would've joked about how it's his first time having to crane his head up to look at the elder.

"I guess I never explicitly announced it? But I thought you guys already knew and was just teasing me whenever you guys would hook me up with someone. I never knew that you all didn't know."

Bobby sighs, something that he's been doing a lot lately, before he mutters a soft "Sorry."

Much to his surprise, Jinhwan drops down to his knees so he could look at him from eye to eye. Bobby leans back due to their sudden close proximity, but Jinhwan doesn't seem to mind. "Oh, worry not. I wasn't mad. I'm more amused, I guess? I mean, we." 

It's still unfamiliar to hear the term from his hyung's lips, but he'll have to get used to it anyway. 

"We're pretty sure that we're obvious so this came as a surprise for us both." 

"Please make up, so we can all leave now." 

Bobby throws Hanbin a brief glare, who repositions himself in his sofa, watching them both idly.

"I still don't understand why you're so nonchalant about this but that's for another day."

Hanbin shrugs. "Well, I already told you why."

"Hanbin is right, can we please make up now because my knees are starting to hurt."

Bobby's question dies down on his throat as he scrambles to pull Jinhwan up so they're both standing now. He vaguely hears Hanbin snickers, but he pays the devil no mind. 

"So," He trails on, while Jinhwan looks at him hopefully. "We're okay now?"

"I've always been okay." Jinhwan reminds him. "It's you who suddenly starts ignoring me." 

"Fine. We're okay now."

Hanbin howls somewhere from the distance, disrupting the moment before it could even build up, and Bobby never have this urge to chuck his shoe to shut him up until now.

"Hugs?" Jinhwan suggests, and Bobby chose not to answer, just pulls the elder close towards him. The warmth emanating from his favorite hyung is familiar, and  _ finally,  _ he could now sleep peacefully at night.

Jinhwan is the first one to break it off, and a thought pops in Bobby's mind. "Wait, are we still allowed to do this? You're pretty touchy to us." 

Bobby doesn't need to elaborate further, because it seems like Jinhwan already knows what he means, judging by the soft giggle that he lets out. It's such a cute sight, and Bobby is tempted to break out of character and laugh too even if he doesn't really understand what's so funny.

He remembers that Hanbin is still here too, and that's enough motivation for him to not do it. Maybe the younger already thought that he's weird.

"My lover is a jealous one, but it's okay." Jinhwan's eyes are twinkling in amusement, and the smile never left his lips even after his phone dings, signifying that he receives a message.

After a few seconds of scrolling, Jinhwan tucks his phone back in his pocket, with his smile still intact. "Anyway, enough of this. I promised to help Jinwoo hyung with something, and I'm already late." 

"Oh." 

"Oh indeed." Jinhwan echoes brightly. "You two, drive safely and rest well!"

Bobby could just stand there while he watches Jinhwan leave, can't quite grasp the turnup of events in a span of a short amount of time. Thankfully Hanbin seems to be in a stable state of mind because he stops their eldest before he completely leaves, with a question so unexpected Bobby's eyes almost bulged out from his sockets.

"Wait hyung, last question what do you mean that you're both obvious? How?"

Realization dawns on Jinhwan's face immediately, as he graciously offers his explanation.

"For me, personally I think we are but maybe that's not the case for you all. Guess it's like that since we're friends first before we eloped. People just started to overlook things." Their eldest smiles mysteriously, and as if sensing that more questions will come if he stays, he waves his hand and pulls the door open, not giving them time to react. "Anyway, gotta go now, bye!"

Silence ensues as they both take in Jinhwan's words, and the possible meaning towards it. Bobby is not counting but he thinks it's a full minute before either of them say anything.

"I still don't know why he's still close with Jinwoo hyung when it's been years since Jinani hyung left his department."

Bobby is sure he has question marks written all over his face when he faces Hanbin, which them prompts the younger to let out a defensive "What?" 

Bobby hums. Interesting.


	3. YunDong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donghyuk and Yunhyeong tag team into finding out on who is it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if anyone's still reading this, sorry for the extremely late update!

Junhoe called in sick, Bobby and Chanwoo was sent somewhere for a meeting, Hanbin is still presenting to the boards and Jinhwan is sleeping in Hanbin's office. 

It's their lunch time, and though it's not rare for them to be incomplete due to their tasks that need to be prioritized, things are looking different today. Donghyuk and Yunhyeong are extra quieter. 

They both ordered pasta and iced tea, and ever since they sat down, they haven't even shared a single conversation. Donghyuk rubs his eyes tiredly, as he almost dropped his head on his plate. He's way too sleepy, and he should've just taken a short nap somewhere like what Jinhwan did instead of forcing himself to eat when he doesn't even have an appetite. He's blaming it on Yunhyeong, who drags him to the restaurant despite his protests, and then leaves him to his own devices as the man just stares into space.

After his third head bang, Donghyuk finally pushes his still half way full plate to the side and taps on his dazed hyung's shoulder.

"I'm so sleepy." He informs him, and by the puzzled look on Yunhyeong's face, it's apparent that he really isn't paying attention to him. "Nice of you to notice, I literally almost ate my food with my whole face."

Yunhyeong has at least the decency to look embarrassed. "Sorry."

"I'll go back first and maybe catch some minutes of sleep. Please wake me up when lunch time's over."

"No, no. Stay here." 

Donghyuk grunts, annoyed that he's being blocked from leaving, but having no energy left to fight back. He just slumps back in his chair, not caring that the plates made a loud noise when he drops his head on the table, feeling Yunhyeong mutter something incomprehensible under his breath and then he's feeling an awkward pat on his back. 

"What are you even thinking? Can't you do it alone?" Donghyuk finally succumbs to fatigue, but even with his eyes closed, he could still see numbers from last night's report that he's trying to finish. Tragic.

"Do you know that Jinhwan hyung is in a relationship?"

Donghyuk groans at that. Maybe if it's any other day, then he would've gladly shared his inputs about it, especially from the things he's heard from Bobby, but not today. He could already feel like sleeping right there and then, secretly wishing the staff could approach them and kick them out soon for acting inappropriately inside a restaurant. In that way, they could go back early.

"Yes, I know. Bobby hyung and Chanwoo were the first people to know, and Bobby hyung can't stop complaining about it after."

"Damn it. So does that mean I'm the last one to know?"

"I don't know, I'm not keeping track."

"Do you have a guess on who it is?"

"Hyung, I'm so sleepy!" Donghyuk turns his head to the side so he could openly glare at Yunhyeong. Respect be damned, is it too much to ask for rest?

"Sorry! I'm just really curious." Yunhyeong is giving him his sad puppy look and to escape the visual torture, Donghyuk returns in his earlier position, showing the back of his head as an answer.

"Last question, and I promise I'll let you sleep!" 

At the idea of being left alone, Donghyuk finally gave in. "I don't have any idea but Bab hyung has moved on into theorizing stuff. I think Jinhwan confirmed it to him that whoever he's in a relationship with, they're friends first. He also slipped that maybe it's because of that that we overlooked things. I don't know if it's gonna help but it seems like jealousy is a common case for them, given with Jinhwan hyung's affectionate nature." 

He hears Yunhyeong let out an appreciative hum, and he's so ready to drift off to dreamland but then his hyung begins to bombard him with another set of questions. He should've known that the earlier proposition is just a trap. 

"Isn't he in a 2-year relationship? We've been working together for 4 years, but Bobby and Hanbin met him 6 years ago. Does it mean that they have an idea on who is it now?" 

"You said that it's the last question." 

Donghyuk listens as the sound of chairs scraping the floor resounded, and then suddenly, Yunhyeong's voice is so much nearer to him. Bye bye nap time.

"You already said a lot, don't keep me hanging!"

Donghyuk abruptly lifts his head off the table, ready to snap at his nosy hyung. To his surprise, a sharp pain hits at the back of his head, and then Yunhyeong's shriek startles the whole restaurant. This time, he's sure that they'll be approached by the staff.

Miraculously, or not really since the sharp pain transforms into a dull throbbing pain, the little accident makes his sleepiness completely vanish. Yunhyeong seems to be on the verge of crying with his hand covering his mouth, and by the looks of it, he may have been hovering over him earlier that's why when he moved, the back of his head hits his mouth. 

Donghyuk should be sorry, but he's hurt too and that's what his hyung gets for being too much.

"Wow, it's really you guys."

It's the staff. They must be inconveniencing the other customers. With his eyes squinted at his obviously in pain hyung, he took the liberty to answer since it looks like he can't speak anytime soon. "Sorry, I just have a nosy hyung, we'll leave immediately."

"What?"

Yunhyeong's eyes widen by a fraction, as he points at somewhere from his back. "Yes, I know that's the staff. C'mon hyung, let's go."

"Who's the staff, Donghyuk?"

The staff knew him? He's aware that they frequent this place when they don't feel like eating at the company's cafeteria, but to the point of knowing his name? And talking casually too? Impossible.

Donghyuk stands up, ready to leave and pull Yunhyeong along if he should, when he feels a hand on his shoulder. The staff is really testing his nerves.

"We'll leave." Donghyuk spins on his heel, prepared to give the staff a piece of his mind, but to his surprise, the guy standing in front of him looks nothing like a regular staff.

"Jinwoo hyung?" The said man smiles his usual kind smile, but Donghyuk is too puzzled to return it. He reluctantly takes a seat when the elder invites himself to sit on the spare chair on his right. "What are you doing here?"

Yunhyeong can't speak yet but he makes his disapproval known by kicking him on the shin. Donghyuk let's out a pained noise, but before Jinwoo could question him about it, he yields to his hyung's silent request and redeems himself. 

"Sorry. I don't mean to sound rude, I just never see you eat here." Donghyuk makes a quick survey to look for Jinwoo's usual clique, but finds no other familiar faces. "You're alone too? Where are the other hyungs?" 

"I'm with them earlier, but they went back first. You're right, this is not our usual place but I'm just ordering take outs."

"Hor hu?" 

Donghyuk head snaps to look at Yunhyeong, amused to see him struggling to talk. He's not covering his mouth now, so Donghyuk could clearly spot a small cut on his bottom lip. It's bleeding a little, but nothing too serious.

"What did he say? And what happened to him?" Jinwoo worriedly questions.

"He's fine, just had a little accident." Donghyuk brushes it off, as he returns his focus back on Jinwoo. "The take outs are for who?"

"Oh, they're for Jinani." 

Donghyuk is sure he looks comical, and as he checks Yunhyeong's reaction, he's pleased to know that he's mirroring his own.

"For hyung?"

"Yes. Since you're not with him, I'm assuming he skipped lunch? Where is he?" 

Though still shocked, Donghyuk forces himself to answer. "Hes sleeping in Hanbin hyung's office." He trails off. His answer earns a sympathetic look from the elder, and he got so many questions to ask but he controls himself. Patience.

"Poor thing. He must be so tired. He probably stayed out late again, even though he should be resting since I heard, he's already done with his reports."

Donghyuk doesn't know if he could get his eyes bigger than the last time, but he just did. Too much information, and he doesn't know where to start.

"Hoh hu uh knoh all oh tis?" 

They simultaneously turns to Yunhyeong, who only smiles. Jinwoo must have seen the cut on his hyung's lip, since be begins to throw questions again.

"Is he really fine?"

Donghyuk squints his eyes at Yunhyeong, trying to convey his message that he got this, so he just has to stay back and listen. Yunhyeong nods as a confirmation, and so Donghyuk let's himself sort the questions on his mind, before throwing one back at Jinwoo.

"How do you know Jinhwan hyung stayed up all night?"

"Do you not know?"

Well, that's strange. "Hyung, don't answer my question with another question." 

"Sorry, sorry. I just knew that he's stubborn like that. I always tell him to take care of himself, or else his body might give up on him too someday."

"Mr. Jinu?" 

At the mention of his name, Jinwoo springs on his seat. Donghyuk and Yunhyeong watch as the elder excuse himself to get his order from the counter, mind filled with unanswered questions.

Jinwoo goes back to them still in their own world, only coming back down to reality when he bids them goodbye. 

"Sorry, I can't sit longer with you guys, I still have reports to finish and I have to give this to Jinani while still warm." Jinwoo says, as he lifts up the package, showing the food he ordered. It must be Jinhwan's favorites. "See you when I see you!"

"Yeah...see you hyung."

Jinwoo smiles, and then he's turning on his heels and walking towards the exit. They didn't take their eyes off his retreating figure, just follows him until he can't be seen anymore.

"What the hell was that?"

* * *

To say that Donghyuk was shocked was an understatement. He was beyond mortified when an arm shot up on his direction and quickly dragged him to the side, together with a hand that's covering his mouth to prevent him from screaming his lungs out at the unexpected assault. He looked like he's getting kidnapped—nevermind the fact that it's happening in broad daylight, inside their office, and was done by Yunhyeong. 

Donghyuk's irritation grows quickly, because he's still being suffocated. He decided to come early to work today for a change, and he didn't know he'll have to face his psychopath hyung. It's only Monday, and it looked like his entire week was already ruined.

Donghyuk wriggles himself free from the elder's arms, annoyed that his suit is now wrinkled. And to think that he took his time ironing them earlier.

"That's it? No apologies?" Donghyuk demands, glaring viciously at a distracted Yunhyeong. However, Yunhyeong only shushes him, and if he isn't offended earlier, then he fully is, right now.

"What the hell, hyung?" Donghyuk seethes. Yunhyeong still isn't looking at him, and Donghyuk kind of wants to throw a tantrum. He regretted coming to work early today. He'll never do this again. 

"Shh, lower your voice down." Yunhyeong says, his focus elsewhere. "Look ahead, they've been chatting for a while. Who is she? She's small and cute, totally hyung's type." 

Though still annoyed, Donghyuk follows Yunhyeong's gaze. He then sees Jinhwan already on his cubicle, a huge surprise too since the elder was either always late or will just arrive on time for work, together with a familiar lady. They start to laugh about something, but they are too far to hear what they're talking about. 

"Interested?" 

Donghyuk ignores the taunting lilt on Yunhyeong's voice. The 'couple' seems to be done with their talk now, as they both stood up, with smiles never leaving their faces. Donghyuk gives his utmost concentration in trying to eavesdrop on what they are saying to each other, but the distance between them is proven to be a huge barrier. 

Donghyuk swivels to look at Yunhyeong when Jinhwan appears to look at their direction, almost knocking Yunhyeong with his abrupt action again. Yunhyeong seems to have understood why he did that, because his eyes widen as he peers at Jinhwan. 

"He saw us and is coming our way." Yunhyeong looks calm but his voice is trembling. His expression looks grim and so Donghyuk advises him to smile, but it only ended up looking more awkward. Donghyuk wanted to facepalm himself but is secretly glad that he decided to turn around because he's sure he'll do much worse.

"Do you think he'll reprimand us? Did he see us trying to eavesdrop?" 

By now, Donghyuk could already here Jinhwan's footsteps. There's not much people in the office considering the early hour, so every sound is amplified. Or they just like to be dramatic.

"I thought he's dating Jinwoo hyung!" Donghyuk whisper shouted. "Should we ask him about her?" 

A hand lands squarely on Donghyuk's shoulder and he swear to God his heart skipped a goddamn beat before it starts to hammer quickly. 

"Are you dating her hyung?" 

Donghyuk never wanted to strangle his hyung so much until now. Silence elapses among them, and it's by far the most awkward one, next to the day after Jinhwan walked in on him taking nude pictures when they were on a vacation. Donghyuk shudders as the embarrassment starts to fill his system again.

"Well, good morning to you too."

Deciding that Yunhyeong will just make things worse if he opens his mouth again, Donghyuk takes a deep breath before finally facing his other hyung. 

Understandably, Jinhwan looks bewildered.

"Who is she, hyung? I thought you're dating --" 

"Yunhyeong hyung for the love of God, please shut up." Donghyuk says as he grits his teeth in frustration. "Please don't mind hyung, that's the effect of caffeine talking." 

"Do you mean Jirin? The new recruit from the HR Team?"

"Oh, she's new? Then she isn't your girlfriend?"

"Yunhyeong hyung!"

"Ah, I get it." Jinhwan says, seconds before Donghyuk could really snap at Yunhyeong. "You're both now joining Bobby on the hunt for the identity of my boyfriend?"

"A BOYFRIEND?" Donghyuk hollers, unbelieving. How could they forget to ask the most basic questions? So they're back to Jinwoo?

"Yes, a boyfriend." Jinhwan winks, obviously enjoying this guessing game. "Now, good morning to both of you again but I have work to do. See you later!"

"Wait, hyung!" 

Donghyuk vaguely hears Yunhyeong mutter something about calming down but he can't be bothered anymore as he chases his hyung to ask more questions. Jinhwan is as quick as ever, and Donghyuk is about to grab him when a voice stops him.

"Why are you running havoc so early today?" 

"Hanbin! Go tell 'em!"

Jinhwan only smirks at them, but when Hanbin turns to look at him, his expression transforms into something pitiful.

"Did you rest well over the weekends? You are so tired last Friday that you slept throughout lunch." 

"Yes I did! Thank you for your concern!"

Donghyuk and Yunhyeong only watch the familiar get strange exchange in front of them. They'll eventually know who his boyfriend is. Donghyuk will make sure of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> junhoe's investigation will be up next. whodo you think is jinhwan's boyfriend so far?


	4. Junhoe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junhoe finds some unexpectedly deep answers from Jinhwan, that has left him much to think about.

Junhoe is not one to be persuaded by his friends' dumb ideas, but here he is, standing before Jinhwan's door, more nervous than that one summer night.

The door eventually opens after the third bell, revealing a very casual looking Jinhwan. It's understandable, since they were granted a rare long weekend due to the holidays, and just like the elder, he's enjoying it by lazing around his apartment and sleeping all day.

Of course, that was what he was doing before his friends had roped him into agreeing with their plan. They all left to go back to their families and Junhoe could easily refuse to do it since no one will monitor him anyway, but he still find himself waiting outside Jinhwan's door because he's also sure that they'll pester his ass if he provided no answer if asked about it later.

"Oh, June? Here again? Did you forget something?"

Junhoe only sighs, not bothering to answer anymore as he steps inside the older's familiar place. Their units all look alike anyway since they're all neighbors, but he's more familiar with every piece of furniture and the placement of certain things on Jinhwan's unit than his, due to the fact that he rarely stayed at his own unit because of his own mess.

"Why? You won't let me in because everybody knows that you're in a relationship now? I'm hurt."

"You're really crazy." Jinhwan snorts, as he follows Junhoe to his living room. "You seem fine when you left earlier, what got your panties in a bunch now?"

Junhoe slumps his weight on the elder's sofa, with the latter following suit. He throws his head back with another deep sigh, aware of Jinhwan's worried eyes fixed on him.

"Do you feel sick again?" Jinhwan says after the moment of silence stretches far too long for his liking. "Want me to make you some tea?"

"Hyung, tell me about your boyfriend."

"What?"

Junhoe just wants everything to get done and over with. He's realizing how stupid he is for ever considering it in the first place, but Bobby had asked him too about it and well, damn his hyungs for knowing what exactly to do to corner him out.

Out of nowhere, he springs up on his seat, startling Jinhwan in the process. Without a word, Junhoe begins to walk around the living room, bending a little from time to time, seemingly in a conquest of inspecting the furniture.

Jinhwan allowed him to do whatever he's doing for a good five minutes. Junhoe noticed a medium size box at the back of the TV set though, something that he hadn't noticed before whenever he set the TV up for movie viewing. He's about to go straight for it, when Jinhwan's voice interrupts him.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Junhoe spins on his heel, like a deer caught in the headlights. Jinhwan is looking at him strangely from his place on the sofa, and so he gives his search up by going back down to sit on his earlier place because even though the elder doesn't look irked yet, he's sure it'll only take a couple more minutes before it happens. He doesn't want to get on the elder's bad side, especially since he's looking forward about something.

"Finding something to report to our friends because you won't talk about your boyfriend." He explains, once he settled his place back beside the elder.

"Wait, you're serious about earlier?"

Junhoe fixes his sitting position so he's leaning on the arm of the sofa instead, but at the same time being able look at Jinhwan properly. The sofa isn't long enough for him to stretch his legs without hitting Jinhwan with it, but he also doesn't want to fold them because that'll be uncomfortable, so he dumps his calves instead on the latter's lap. Jinhwan groans at the weight, but fortunately just lets him be.

"The hyungs called me, asking me to ask you about your lover. I thought they're just going to ask how I am since I've been sick and stuff and I haven't had a proper conversation with them yet but the first thing that they said after I picked up the phone is," Junhoe pauses to clear his throat, "'Hey Junhoe, you know that Jinhwan hyung is in a relationship right? Can you find out more about it?'"

He ends his poor attempt at imitating Yunhyeong's voice with a huff. He crosses his arms on his chest, eyes narrowing suspiciously on a smiling Jinhwan. He continues anyway, undeterred, because he's not done ranting yet.

"Of course I declined because what the hell? I won't waste my precious naptime for doing something ridiculous. But then—"

"Here you are." Jinhwan unhelpfully supplies, but Junhoe only shakes his head.

"Bobby hyung called." At this, Jinhwan's mouth forms an 'o', immediately understanding it. "How can I say no to him? You know I never did, and that's because we rarely talk now."

Junhoe is well aware that he's a grown ass man and yet he's sulking over something that must've been trivial, judging by the full grin that is now on Jinhwan's face. He doesn't care, because frankly, his feelings were quite hurt.

"How are you feeling?"

Junhoe did a double take at the question, not clearly expecting it.

"What?"

"Well, the reason that you're acting like this is because you're annoyed that no one asked about how you are, right?"

Too embarrassed that Jinhwan immediately hit the bullseye, Junhoe let his silence answer him instead.

"In Hanbin's defense, he did ask me about how you are."

Somehow, the information doesn't lift his mood up. It did the opposite, if he's being honest, because his mood goes much sour.

"For all I know, he's just worried that I won't be able to finish my report on time."

Jinhwan gives him a disapproving look, one that he thinks he deserves, but is too annoyed to school his expression into something much more pleasant.

"Now you're just being childish."

Junhoe huffs, but nonetheless gives in when Jinhwan raises his brow at him. He's aware of how he's acting, no need to point it out thank you very much.

"Sorry."

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I'm not!" At his outburst, Jinhwan erupts into a fit of giggles. Junhoe is tempted to join him in the sudden laughfest, but he's got pride and he's determined to keep his attitude until he deems fit. "Hyung, let me sulk please."

Jinhwan wipes an invisible tear out of the corner of his eye, while Junhoe just rolls his eyes at the theatrics, before looking somewhere else. The silence that envelops them is a comfortable one this time, and even though the lightening of the atmosphere is at his own expense, Junhoe could hardly care.

When the silence stretches on, and Junhoe has already calmed down, he casts a worried glance at the elder's direction, wanting to check his expression. To his surprise, he finds Jinhwan already staring at him, with an indescribable look on his face. Junhoe immediately looks away, suddenly self conscious and embarrassed.

Jinhwan stands up after a couple more moments, carelessly pushing Junhoe's limbs off his lap and provided an answer before the latter even could question him.

"I'll just get us something to drink to calm you down."

Junhoe nods and slides further on his seat, now that he has the long sofa all for himself. He lets Jinhwan ruffle his hair when he passes by behind him, before saying his simple request.

"Bring a strong one."

"Nuh-uh, you're not drinking. You're still taking your meds."

"But hyung!" Junhoe complains, knowing full well that it won't work. Just saying it for the sake of it.

"My house, my rules."

And just like that, Junhoe is left with his own thoughts again.

* * *

"To be honest, I'm really shocked by your question earlier."

After finishing their drinks, they mutually decided to watch something together. They randomly put a movie on the player, but it turns out to be the same movie that they watched just recently. They're too lazy to change it though, so they let the movie play, as their mind both wander somewhere else.

Junhoe grabs a handful of the already cooled popcorn, acting like he didn't just zoned out after the first ten minutes in.

"What question?" Just on cue, his mind flashbacked on the events that transpired earlier. "Oh, that? Why?"

"Well, you never really cared when others were practically going crazy when they first found out, so I thought I'll just have to worry about others."

He discreetly reaches for Jinhwan's wine glass, only for his hand to be slapped away. He'll never really get a single drop of alcohol on his tongue if Jinhwan is around.

"Are you disappointed that I asked too?" 

"No, just amused that you joined in on the fun too."

Junhoe looks at the elder as if he's out of his mind. Jinhwan shrugs, as he continues to stuff his face with more popcorn. "Hyung, I don't know your definition of fun, but this clearly isn't. Yeah, it's fun to see them lose their minds but not when they started to incorporate me with their plans."

It takes a while for Jinhwan to chew everything at once, and when he did, after patiently waiting for his answer, what he received was an attack instead. The audacity.

"You don't appreciate it because you're boring."

Junhoe narrows his eyes, his voice dropping low, heavily affronted. "Take that insult back."

Like an adult that he is, Jinhwan sticks his tongue out at him. How mature. They're back to their usual playful banter, but it was immediately broken off when his phone inconveniently rang.

"Your phone has been receiving texts." Jinhwan says, as if Junhoe isn't aware of it. "Must have been important, go check it out."

"No, no. I took a look earlier, but they're all from hyungs. They're probably asking about how I'm doing with the investigation so far."

At his explanation, Jinhwan's face seems to brighten up a little. Or maybe that's just the effect of the artificial light from the TV, Junhoe isn't sure.

Jinhwan moves the bowl of popcorn on his lap and places it back on the coffee table in front of them. He grabs a throw pillow to replace the position of where the bowl had been, and with a slight smile on his face, he says, "Ask away. Just 3 questions though. What do you need to know?"

"That easy?" Junhoe questions, skeptical that the older man is suddenly willing and interested.

"Yes, I'll entertain them. And you're not as annoying as they are, so I'm giving you a special pass."

"Well, you really should." Junhoe mutters under his breath. He accepts the offer immediately, because it's the reason why he's at the elder's place, right? He nods to show his approval, and begins to ransack his brain to come up with a decent question, one that even his hyungs will be proud of.

"Okay, how do you really feel about others not knowing that you're in a relationship? Are you hurt by it?"

Jinhwan's smile falters a bit, and bingo, Junhoe gave himself a mental pat on his back for starting with the right one.

"Please be honest."

"Then, yes." Jinhwan answers, voice softer, much more somber. "But it's not like what you're probably thinking. I'm not mad at them—not one bit, but I'm just hurt at the possible fact that I'm hurting my boyfriend all along."

"You're not making any sense, hyung."

"It makes me think, do I really act the same with everyone? I'm not one for PDA, but I'm pretty sure I've shown affection enough for my lover to feel special. Now though, hearing their words made me think otherwise. Just what did my partner feel after all this time? I feel bad."

Junhoe lets himself digest Jinhwan's unexpectedly deep answer. The latter has moved from looking at him, into staring at the pillow on his lap. He's obviously anxious, the atmosphere shifting into a much serious one.

"That's," At his voice, Jinhwan abandons the frayed ends of the pillows that he's been playing with, to look back at him. "That's really— I don't know, that's not the answer that I expected. You seem to be enjoying their reactions whenever they're asking about your lover, I didn't know you feel this way. If you're not comfortable anymore, you could just tell them to stop. I'm sure they'll understand."

Jinhwan only waves his hand dismissively. "No, it's fine. They're right though, and it made me reflect on how I am as a lover. Turns out I sucked."

Junhoe is suddenly filled with an indescribable feeling of mild rage upon hearing his usually confident hyung doubt himself over something that was done by his other hyungs. He's sure that it was not the intention of others, like how he also wouldn't know about it if he didn't ask him today, but still, they should've just let him alone in the first place.

"Don't put yourself down because of that." The frustration probably slipped through his facade of being calm because Jinhwan is looking at him strangely. "Did you hear anything about this from, uh, your boyfriend? You've been in a relationship for years, right?"

"Right."

"So?"

Jinhwan is clearly confused on where their conversation is going, but nonetheless shakes his head. "No, I didn't."

Realizing that he probably came off as someone really strange because of the adrenaline rush from wanting to prove his point to the dejected hyung, Junhoe takes in a deep breath to slow himself down.

"Then that's your answer. Your boyfriend probably doesn't care about it. You don't need to rethink everything just because an outsider tells you something about things they don't really have full knowledge of."

"My boyfriend probably don't just wanna bring it up."

Jinhwan is really stubborn once he already put his mind onto something. Junhoe immediately thinks of other ways, or things to say that could change the latter's mind.

He eventually came up with one, not too long after, as he hopes that after this, the elder will finally drop this topic and go.

"Do you think he's that kind of person? To keep his feelings locked and keep you guessing?"

At his question, Jinhwan pauses to think. Realization dawns upon him after a minute or so, his face brightening up a notch, no longer looking grim and dispirited. Not gonna lie, Junhoe thought that Jinhwan looked like a sad puppy earlier. Like a chihuahua.

"No!"

"You're welcome."

Proving his earlier thoughts, Jinhwan jumps on his seat excitedly. Junhoe discreetly inches away, afraid that he'll get pounced at without any warning.

"Wow, this talk has it's unexpected benefits too. Amazing."

"Just don't worry your pretty little head about whatever they have to say." Junhoe takes a pause, but luckily, Jinhwan didn't seem to notice his choice of words so he continues, "You've been doing fine for years without their inputs, and you, of all people should know better than to be affected by it because you're the one who is in the relationship."

"Yes." Jinhwan agrees, his eyes twinkling. "I'm the best boyfriend!"

Junhoe almost chokes on his spit. "Let's not get that into it."

"No, you're right. I'm the best!" Junhoe only shakes his head at him. Jinhwan laughs gleefully, and this time, Junhoe let's himself laugh along too. The atmosphere returns back to it's previous light state— undeniably the effect of Jinhwan's laughter.

"I'm just joking, the atmosphere has gone down because of my answer."

Junhoe smiles, genuine and fond. "No, it's okay."

"That's your first question. What's the second one?"

"Hmm," Jinhwan is looking at him expectantly, and Junhoe can't really think well while under pressure so he just repeated his earlier question.

"Describe your boyfriend. Not just in physical sense, but you know," Jinhwan is grinning fully, and why does it feel like the tables turned against him when it's him who was giving the questions? "The things that made you like him."

"Bold question, huh."

Junhoe flushes, panicking inside because maybe he already crossed the line. "You don't have to answer it if you don't want to."

"For starters, he's tall." Jinhwan announces, cutting through Junhoe's thoughts. "And yeah, I know anyone is taller than me, you prick."

"I'm not saying anything."

"But you're about to."

Junhoe opens and closes his mouth, unable to come up with things to say to defend himself. The corner of Jinhwan's lips tugged upwards upon seeing his mildly panicked state, and that's only when he breathed a sigh of relief. He's only kidding.

"Anyway, as I was saying. I like that he's tall, because he could easily comfort me and, you know, wrap me out of my worries away. Just by merely standing beside me makes me feel safe, which is saying a lot because I usually hate being reminded that I'm shorter."

"That's really cute."

"Shut up." There's a blush that's now painting the apple of Jinhwan's cheeks, but he's continuing before Junhoe could even point it out. "He's an asshole sometimes, and there are times when his words would really cut me, but as time passes by, I learned to understand that it's him. That, that's how he really is and he doesn't really know how to express himself in any way. I don't expect him to change, just like how he doesn't expect me to change when it's clear that I'm hurting him too. I like him the way he is, and I'm thankful that he accepted me for all my flaws and mood swings."

The last bit earns a chuckle from Junhoe, and an embarrassed glare from Jinhwan.

"I'm rambling but to sum it up, we've reached a point that we understand each other no matter what the circumstance is. We're both childish and immature at first, but I realized that entering this relationship have matured how we think and act. I'm glad that I met him."

Junhoe looks down, as he feels his face heat up. He flinches when he feels a soft flick on his ears and whips his head back up, squinting his eyes at an equally embarrassed Jinhwan.

"Your ears are red!" Geez, maybe Junhoe shouldn't have asked questions in the first place. It only backfired on him. "Why are you so embarrassed when it should be me!"

Junhoe huffs, pointing an accusing finger at Jinhwan. "It's my first time hearing you sound this genuine and on this topic too! Please spare me, I won't ask anymore I think I've heard enough. Thank you."

"No, no, I'm in the mood now so I'll tell you one last thing."

Junhoe shakes his head, and when he's about to face the television again, Jinhwan pinches his thigh, earning him a painful yelp from him.

"Just one last thing and then we could watch again!"

Junhoe doesn't know why Jinhwan is so adamant on finishing his explanation, but maybe he just likes seeing him embarrassed. He seems shy too while he's explaining earlier, but Junhoe could see that the elder meant each and every word. It's overwhelming him.

"Oh please no, have mercy. We're done, I'll forget this conversation ever happened."

"Don't be dramatic!" Jinhwan chuckles, resorting to using force in making Junhoe listen to him again. Junhoe sighs, yielding to it, as he belatedly wonders why did he subjected himself to this kind of torture when he was just enjoying his free time earlier. Damn his hyungs.

"Lastly," Jinhwan breathes in, and Junhoe braces himself on what's about to come. "I love that he's trying so hard even though he doesn't want it to show. I love to dote on him even though sometimes I know I can be too much, but he just lets me be. I love that he cares, not in an extravagant way like I did, but on the little things that mean a lot to me. I also know that I'm his first relationship, but what he doesn't know is that he's my first boyfriend, and serious relationship too."

"You're kidding." Junhoe accuses, but Jinhwan isn't laughing. So it's real? "You've had girlfriends before, right?"

"Yeah, girlfriends but not a boyfriend. Also, they ended way too early for me to consider it seriously. Sure, I did like them, but never like this now."

"Tell me more about it."

"Now you're interested again?" Jinhwan pokes his cheeks, but instead of acting annoyed, Junhoe just ignores him— just lets the elder take his fill. Realizing that Junhoe's not playing and genuinely interested in what he's about to tell, Jinhwan drops his hands back to his lap and sighs.

Junhoe doesn't urge him to begin, in which Jinhwan is thankful for. He would usually drop the topic if the elder looks uncomfortable to continue, but not now. Definitely not now.

Jinhwan only takes a few moments, before he starts to talk again.

"I'm nervous because I don't know if it'll be the same as having a female counterpart, but he's much more nervous than I am so I tried not to let it show." Junhoe only nods, keeping his words in until Jinhwan finishes. "I've seen his efforts, his struggles, his determination in keeping this relationship afloat and before I knew it, I was introducing him to my family, something that I never did with my past exes, because this time I know that we'll last. I know that it'll be different this time."

The answer has left Junhoe speechless—his mind a goddamn mess. Jinhwan can't even look at him in the eye now, resorting to playing at the same poor old pillow on his lap again, busying himself even though his blushing ears can't lie.

The weight of Jinhwan's words and feelings finally dawns on him, the sincerity and genuineness of the explanation knocking his breath out of his throat. Today is really a rollercoaster ride, and Junhoe kind of wants to go back in time and reject Bobby's favor.

To say that Junhoe was startled was an understatement, because he literally jumped a few inches from his seat when Jinhwan suddenly clapped both of his hands. The elder had the decency to look apologetic, upon seeing how truly shaken he was.

"And that's your second question! I probably spill more than I should have, I'm sorry!" Jinhwan says in one breath and without any pause, his face mirroring the color of his ears. Junhoe would've teased him about it, but his mind is still somewhere else. "Oh look, we're already short of popcorn! I'll get a refill."

"Hyung, you," Junhoe's mouth opens before his mind could filter anything, halting Jinhwan from running away and hiding in his kitchen. "You really love him, huh?"

The question surprises both Jinhwan and Junhoe, with the latter already inwardly cursing himself for blurting it out. Unlike Junhoe, Jinhwan recovers quite fast, and with a smile, answers with, something Junhoe had always knew, but still something that he needed to still hear.

"Of course I do."

"No need to get a refill, I remember that I still have to do something." Jinhwan's smile morphs quickly into a frown, as Junhoe focuses elsewhere, can't bear to look at the former male without feeling the guilt consume him. He's a goddamn coward, and he's running away. Again. He stands up from the sofa, and picks his phone from the coffee table, not allowing Jinhwan to speak as he bids his farewell. "I'm going to head back now."

"What, suddenly?"

"Yes, sorry. Thank you for humoring my questions and answering them truthfully. I—" Junhoe stands in front of the door, hand already on the doorknob, his back facing Jinhwan. "I really appreciate it.

"It's nothing."

Junhoe twists the knob with a sigh, and then he's out of the door. 

  
  
  


Later that night, Junhoe finds himself unable to sleep, as he tosses and turns on his bed, Jinhwan's earlier answers repeating like a broken record in his mind.

** received: 11:43pm **

** from: yunhyung **

hey junhoe hows the investigation going?

did u alr have some juicy details to share?

hey why arent u replying??

text me back immediately lolol

** sent: 1:24am **

** from: june **

sorry i fell asleep throughout the whole afternoon. im still feeling a bit under the weather.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OoOooHHhh what now??? 
> 
> anyway, chanwoo's up next, then hanbin then final chapter uwu


	5. Chanwoo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chanwoo reaches his personal conclusion from his own observations. Is he right, or is he just overthinking things?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unbetaed. supposed to be done on my bday but i became so busy so :((

It's Monday morning once again, and Chanwoo relishes the rare peaceful ambiance on their office floor. The month end just passed and all reports are successfully turned over to the higher ups, and now they just have to wait for Hanbin's notice on whether they still need to work things out. 

Chanwoo is in their pantry, enjoying his freshly brewed coffee, when Junhoe comes in, together with a barely awake Donghyuk. He greets them with a nod, and Donghyuk takes a seat in front of him as Junhoe goes straight to the coffee maker, taking two mugs with him.

"Two coffees? Too sleepy?" Chanwoo asks. Junhoe briefly turns towards him, and then he's shrugging as he refocuses his attention back to the coffee maker. 

"They're for someone else."

"Ohhhh, for who?" 

"For me. You're the best, Junhoe!" Donghyuk butts in, sending Junhoe a finger heart, one that the latter dodges. 

"Go make your own, you have hands, use it." 

"Why are you so grouchy today? Chill, man." Donghyuk puts his said hands up in surrender. Junhoe doesn't reply, as expected. "You don't really drink coffee. Then those are for who?"

"Jinhwan hyung and Hanbin hyung."

"Right," Donghyuk hums, watching as Junhoe roam their pantry, probably checking for some food that he could bring along too. "I passed by Jinhwan hyung's cubicle and he seems really worn out. Must be so tough to do Bab hyung's load too. When will he be back from the business conference anyway?" 

"Dunno, maybe on Wednesday? Heard it's week long, so he'll be back soon." Chanwoo answers. They're distracted by Junhoe repeatedly opening and closing the cupboards and mini fridge though, and Donghyuk decided to take pity on the troubled man.

"There's some biscuits left on the third cupboard from the right. If that's still not enough, you could cook ramyun, I think we have a couple stocks left." 

Junhoe follows Donghyuk's instructions, and true enough, he eventually found the food.

"You're welcome!" 

Junhoe faces them, face no longer looking as grim as earlier. "Thank you." 

"The biscuits don't look enough. Will you be cooking ramyun?"

Junhoe briefly checks the biscuits on his hands, before nodding. "Yeah. I'll give this to them first, and I'll come back to cook the ramyun." 

"If Hanbin hyung would see Jinhwan hyung dozing off at work, he'll scold him. But then Hanbin hyung rarely did, and it's kinda unfair. He has his favorites."

Junhoe's shoulder stiffens at Donghyuk's words. His voice is hard, as he answers with, "He's not his favorite. You know damn well how hard hyung works, especially now that he's doing Bobby hyung's paperworks too." 

"I'm just joking, of course I know about t—"

Chanwoo kicks Donghyuk's shin from under the table, because now Junhoe's back to his earlier state. Clearly something was bothering Junhoe, and it doesn't feel like the usual mood swings that he always had.

"Hanbin hyung never play favorites. Stop."

Junhoe replies curtly, and then he's grabbing a tray, placing the mugs and the biscuits there, and as soon as he's settled, leaving them without even looking back

Chanwoo and Donghyuk was left in stunned silence, until the former broke it with a not so gentle hit on Donghyuk's shoulder.

"It's your fault!"

"I'm just kidding!"

* * *

The earlier incident was forgotten, as they soon gathered for lunch. Hanbin joined them too, a rare occasion considering he still has to finish additional paper works as their team leader, and wait for any response from their bosses. When Jinhwan, together with Junhoe comes in and Hanbin swiftly hides his phone that he's been using to check his emails ever since he arrived at the restaurant, Chanwoo understands why his hyung is with them today. 

"I was just taking a quick look and checking if I missed any emails." Hanbin reasons out as soon as Jinhwan takes a seat beside him. Chanwoo would like to butt in and say that it's not the case, that Hanbin is lying, but he fears his life more than exposing the truth.

Jinhwan doesn't look like he believes Hanbin, but doesn't say anything else. Chanwoo looks at his hyungs to check if they noticed the short exchange, but everyone seems preoccupied with their own little stories that they're currently sharing to each other. 

"I told you we're going somewhere else first," Jinhwan says, loud enough to stop his other hyungs' chatters, but not too much that would bother the other customers nearby. "Why haven't you ordered yet?" 

Yunhyeong shrugs, as he answers. "Hanbin wanted to wait. Besides, we're not really hungry yet."

Jinhwan looks stunned for a moment, before he turns to point an accusing finger towards Hanbin, squinting his eyes at the said male and looking anything but intimidating. "You just wanted to check your emails longer, do you?" 

Hanbin scratches his neck, clearly guilty. Donghyuk laughs at their leader, while Yunhyeong shakes his head amusedly. This dynamic is something that is familiar for Chanwoo, but for some reason, it strikes as something odd to him now. 

"I'm hungry." Junhoe announces suddenly, face blank as he stretches his hands at the direction of the menu. "Can we order now?" 

Chanwoo can't shake off the weird feeling even after their small group changes track and focuses on what to order for now. He looks at Jinhwan, and then at Hanbin, and then he's startled as he met eyes with Junhoe. 

Junhoe raises a brow at him, probably witnessing how he contemplated earlier, but Chanwoo only shrugs, because he doesn't know what's wrong with him today too.

* * *

Unfortunately, Hanbin has to leave them only after 30 minutes. He isn't even done with his food yet, but no amount of pleading and favors could make the workaholic man stay, especially after he received a notice from one of their representatives. 

Hanbin must have felt guilty for leaving them halfway too, that he allowed them to stay more than their usual break to enjoy their lunch. Some of his hyungs looked quite displeased, but yielded nonetheless because they don't have much choice to begin with. Work will always come first for their hard working team leader.

They continued their lunch pleasantly, and Chanwoo would like to attribute that it's out of boredom and Yunhyeong's nosiness that they're now back to the same topic once again. 

"Hyung," Yunhyeong starts, his eyes glinting as he waits for Jinhwan to acknowledge him. Once he's sure that he got the attention of the said male, and everyone else in their table, he continues, "Tell us more about your boyfriend, since Junhoe here said he didn't manage to ask you questions when we politely asked him to do so." 

Jinhwan looks bewildered, as he turns to look at Junhoe questioningly. Junhoe won't meet their eldest's eyes though, only looks down on his food and squirms uncomfortably in his seat. 

Jinhwan continues to stare at the dodgy male, but when moments pass by and Junhoe seems more interested in cutting the poor piece of steak, he finally taps on his shoulder, explicitly asking him to face him.

"You didn't…?" 

The question is vague, but Junhoe seems to understand it fully as he lets out a sigh. Chanwoo makes a quick survey at their table to look at their expressions, and is glad to see that his other hyungs are as clueless as he is.

"Of course I wouldn't. Why do you look so surprised?" Junhoe answers, defensive and turning sulky. Chanwoo's mind produces more questions at the conversation only the two seemed to understand, but it isn't long before Yunhyeong intervenes.

"Hello, we're here?" Yunhyeong says, stretching his hands towards the direction of the two, as he tries to break their eye contact. "What is it about?" 

Chanwoo notices Junhoe's red ears, but he doesn't say anything more, pitying his obviously flustered friend. 

"Nothing." Junhoe says to Yunhyeong, dismissing possible questions from him. He returns to eating, or at least trying to, but he's failing at it because seconds later, he's dropping his utensils back on his plate. "Don't stare at me and please eat now." 

Jinhwan's earlier confusion turns to amusement, his face forming a teasing smile. There's now a twinkle in his eyes, and he's gently nudging Junhoe with his shoulder.

"Hey, hey, that's cute." Jinhwans says, as he changes course and is now poking Junhoe's cheek. Junhoe lets their eldest be, looking exasperated. 

"Hyung, stop." Junhoe whines, and Chanwoo almost chokes on his spit. Today is a really weird day for everyone.

"Okay, I don't know what's happening, or what's wrong, and it looks like you won't be filling us soon but please don't ignore us." Donghyuk finally voices out, with Yunhyeong agreeing on his side. "Can you give us more hints about your boyfriend?" 

Chanwoo only shakes his head at his determined friends. Yeah, he's curious too, but not to the extent of his hyungs' involvement. Jinhwan eventually drops his attention from Junhoe, as he shifts to focus on the curious duo. 

"Can you also please drop this topic?" Junhoe answers, beating Jinhwan into it. "Jinhwan hyung isn't--" 

"Hush, Junhoe. I'm fine." Jinhwan cuts the younger off, with a knowing smile sent at his direction. Junhoe stands on his ground, but eventually backs down when he realizes Jinhwan's mind is unchangeable. He slumps onto his seat, and crosses his arms as he looks away.

Once again, Chanwoo silently observes the two, but it just added more confusion on his part. They are clearly onto something, but what though?

"Hmm, let me think." Jinhwan says, as he puts his best thinking face on. Chanwoo catches Junhoe rolling his eyes, but he doesn't intervene again.

"Oh, there's an instance at the club." 

At the new information, Yunhyeong and Donghyuk abandoned their plates to lean forward, anticipating Jinhwan's next words. Truthfully, Chanwoo is kind of curious too, even though he rarely join them whenever they go clubbing.

"What happened at the club? And when was it?"

"We made out at the club." Jinhwan says nonchalantly, as if he's disclosing something non scandalous. Junhoe whips his head so fast at their proud hyung's direction, Yunhyeong and Donghyuk eyes almost bulges out of its sockets and Chanwoo chokes on air. 

"We're both tipsy, borderline drunk and we really thought you guys knew since no one paid us any mind even though we're practically at each other's lap then." Jinhwan continues, undeterred by his friends' reactions. "But now that I think of it, y'all probably blacked out from having one too many drinks."

"Hyung! Too much!" Junhoe whisper shouts, aware of the other patrons who are dining in peace. Jinhwan only smiles sweetly, not regretting it one bit.

"They wanted details, now I gave them one." The eldest says, as a matter of fact. Junhoe facepalms, while his other hyungs recovered from the shock, and are now back to piecing information together.

"Is it from our year end party?" 

"Hm, yes, I think so?"

Donghyuk hums, seemingly onto something. "From last year or…?" 

"Nah, not gonna tell you." Jinhwan laughs cheerily, amused by the frown that he receives from suddenly cutting the information off. He excused himself, obviously running away from the questions that will bombard his way, but not without delivering a teasing wink at them.

Their table is now filled with silence, with his friends in deep thoughts. Chanwoo tries to remember something, and it took quite a while before he finally did. 

Year end party last last year. At their favorite club. Jinhwan and Hanbin was gone for quite some time together. 

Chanwoo can remember it clearly, because he did not attend last year's party and because he's the one who asked Jinhwan to fetch Hanbin from the club dancefloor. He did not see them both return, for he already went home without waiting for others, already reaching his limit with alcohol and social interaction. His memory stopped there, but from Jinhwan's narrative and his memory, it's possible that they could fit since his hyungs were pretty wasted back then. 

Was it really possible? Is this why he's feeling all weird from watching them two earlier? 

"Aha! I think I remember something." Donghyuk says suddenly, his voice a volume louder that it also catches the attention of the customers from nearby table. He immediately cowers in embarrassment, after muttering his apologies for disturbing others.

"What is it?"

Donghyuk motions them to huddle closer, as if he's about to say a top secret. Chanwoo easily obliges, wondering if they both came up with the same thing.

Junhoe is left with his arms still crossed, but after a moment of hesitation, he eventually leans forward too. 

"You know, at last year's party, Jinwoo hyung and Jinhwan hyung was pretty touchy." Donghyuk starts dramatically, his voice barely above a whisper. There's silence, and then Yunhyeong's face lights up in realization, excitedly confirming the previous statement.

"Yes yes, I was there too! They're chilling at the window that overlooked the dancefloor below and Jinwoo hyung's arm was wrapped around hyung!" 

_ So, it's not Hanbin hyung then _ ?

"That's just how they usually are, and besides, Jinhwan hyung is especially touchy when tipsy." Junhoe answers, skeptical at the information. 

"No, it's different! They were whispering and giggling!" 

Yunhyeong repeatedly nods his head. "Yeah, they were. I saw them like that too when I went back to our booth. After that, I don't really remember what happened." 

"Me too. Do you think they really are...you know, boyfriends?" Donghyuk questions. "It makes sense, dang, now I'm sure that he really is." 

The sound of Junhoe's chair scraping against the floor diverts their attention from their newfound conclusion. Junhoe's face looks unreadable, as he stands up, towering over them. 

"They're just friends, and you both sound—" Junhoe's voice is as hard as his expression. Nobody dares to question the suddenly fuming male, can't quite keep up with the change of his moods today. "Nevermind. You won't understand. I'll leave now. Chae texted me earlier about some needed files."

Junhoe proceeded to grab his wallet and phone from the table, having made up his mind. "Just tell hyung that I left. Bye." 

And with that, Donghyuk and Chanwoo were hit with a sense of deja vu. What's wrong with Junhoe?

He eventually turns on his heels, heading towards the door. They don't leave their eyes from their weird friend's back, only returning from their proper position once the said male rounded up the corner. 

"He's really weird today. I think he knows something and is protecting Jinhwan hyung, right?" 

Yunhyeong agrees, and it only takes a couple more moments before the earlier scene was forgotten, as the duo already went back to their previous discussion. 

Chanwoo pushes his own conclusion at the back of his mind. Maybe it really is Jinwoo after all.

* * *

Chanwoo finishes late, when his hyungs had already gone home and some of the lights from the floors on their building was turned off. Hanbin requested him to fix something on one of their computers, and though it wasn't part of his job description, Chanwoo still accepted it because he's a nice person. And he kind of pitied Hanbin's tired state. He already left late, but he's sure that Hanbin will stay much longer. He always does.

He's on his way to the parking lot, having borrowed Bobby's car before his hyung left for his trip. He's about to round up the corner when he hears voices somewhere near him. 

_ There's still people here? _

The voice sounds vaguely familiar and Chanwoo intends to just greet whoever that is and go his own way because he's starting to feel the fatigue settle on his bones. The greeting is at the tip of his tongue, when he's stopped by the view that he saw.

This can't be it. He must be seeing weird things now.

He blinks once, twice, but the view stays the same. 

It's Jinwoo, kissing somebody else goodbye. 

Upon recovering, Chanwoo immediately hid beside the post, still in shock at what he had just seen. He's still processing it, but as he discreetly tries to look back again, there's still Jinwoo standing in front of an unfamiliar female, all smiles and wandering hands.

_ Isn't he….? Why? How about Jinhwan hyung? _

Chanwoo waited for the white car to pass by and for Jinwoo to be alone, which took quite some time because the duo seemed so chatty. Chanwoo's getting so impatient because he got so many questions to ask, especially after they concluded earlier that Jinwoo is Jinhwan's not so secret lover. 

The time finally came, and Chanwoo could feel his heart at his throat, so goddamn nervous since he's never a fan of confrontation and yet here he is, walking straight towards the absentminded male. Chanwoo's guessing that Jinwoo is walking back to the direction of where he had his car parked, and before they could even get far, Chanwoo jogged the remaining distance between them, finally making himself known to his senior.

Jinwoo greets him with a confused smile, and on the rare occasion of his life, his brain to mouth filter malfunctions due to his extreme nervousness.

"You're lucky that it's me who sees you and not Bob hyung, or else he would have had you by your collar now."

Jinwoo's smile drops upon hearing his words. It's understandable, given that they barely talk outside of work, just casual greetings whenever they happen to run on each other, and now he's suddenly spewing a subtle threat, appearing out of nowhere.

"What do you mean? Are you sure you're getting the right person, Chanwoo-ssi?" 

Chanwoo clenches his fists, disgusted that Jinwoo could act like he doesn't have an idea on what he's saying. He hated it more because he's so good at it that Chanwoo almost believes that it's real.

"Why are you cheating? To think that I respected you before." 

If possible, Jinwoo looks more confused. There's a million questions that are running at an insane speed on his mind, but most importantly, his heart started to hurt at the fact that Jinhwan will soon learn about this. 

"Wait, sorry, I really don't understand. I'm cheating?"

Chanwoo huffs, stating the  _ obvious _ . "We've solved it. You're Jinhwan hyung's boyfriend of two years right? Then why are you going around kissing—"

"I'm Jinani's what?" 

Chanwoo can't hide his displeasure any longer, more so now that he was cut off from his little speech. 

"Boyfriend. Lover. Whatever you guys want to call it." 

Jinwoo looks at him, his eyes were bigger than usual, before he starts to laugh. It echoes throughout the empty parking lot, and Chanwoo feels offended because he doesn't have any idea on what's so funny with what he just said. 

"Oh, sweetie. You got the wrong person. I'm not Jinani's boyfriend." Jinwoo eventually says, and there's mirth dancing at the corner of his eyes. "I don't know how you arrived at that conclusion, but it's not me!" 

Chanwoo is stunned for the nth time today, as he's rendered speechless. He can't be joking, right?

"Hyung, is it true? You aren't lying?"

"Oh, did you see me kiss Mihye earlier that's why you thought I was cheating?" 

Chanwoo nods, and Jinwoo has the decency to control his laughter now. The former never wanted the ground to swallow him down until today. He rarely confront someone, and when he finally did, it resulted to this shameful experience.

"Ah, sorry but it was too funny for me. I swear that it's not me, so please continue respecting me!" 

"Are you 1000% saying the truth? How can I make sure that you're not lying and just wanted to get away with what you did?"

Jinwoo takes a moment or two to think of possible ways to say that could convince Chanwoo. He comes up with one, eventually, and only then did the younger visibly deflates out of embarrassment.

"Mihye is my girlfriend, and we've been together for a year. You could ask Jinhwan about it, or anyone from our department to confirm it. Should I call someone now to—"

"No, no it's fine. I'm sorry, I believe you." 

"So it's really true, you guys don't know who Jinani is dating." 

Chanwoo chooses to look at his shoelaces instead, shame filling him completely. He acted so rude earlier, he's surprised Jinwoo is still talking to him nicely. 

"Yeah, we only found out about a month ago." 

"Hey, don't look so mortified. It's okay I understand!" Jinwoo reassures, and Chanwoo would like to say that it's easy for him to say because he's nor the one who regretted everything. "And if you don't mind, can we start walking towards my car? I needed to be somewhere else tonight, and I'm afraid I'll be late."

"Sorry, it's okay. You can now go, I won't bother you anymore." 

Jinwoo stops, tilting his head to the side in confusion. "You sure you don't want to ask questions? You look like you have a lot."

"Then do you know who Jinhwan hyung's boyfriend is?"

"That's easy. Of course I know. It's obvious to me, especially since I've been constantly on the receiving end of the jealous glares from that person."

Jinwoo begins to walk backwards and despite his earlier words, Chanwoo closes the short distance between them, so his hyung could walk normally towards his car. Jinwoo smiles at him, but his curiosity is now greater than his earlier embarrassment. It's true, he has a lot of questions in mind. 

"Can you tell me more about it?" 

"We weren't even that close to begin with, but since both Jinhwan and I are naturally touchy, his boyfriend would often get jealous." That detail, how his hyung's lover is easily jealous, Chanwoo remembered hearing it from Bobby. 

"We got better recently though, and he sometimes asks me for small favors like buying Jinani something to eat when he's sure that the younger skipped again. I think he's starting to gain trust with me since I started going out with someone else." 

Jinwoo's car is now on their line of sight, and Chanwoo knows he only has a couple more steps before his interrogation would end. He decided to just go straight to the point, because what else could he lose anyway?

"If I asked you his name, would you tell me?" 

Jinwoo smiles but says nothing more as he continues to walk forward. Chanwoo is regretting everything once again, and he's ready to just chalk it up as nothing, but then the elder man answers, only after they arrived in front of his car.

"If Jinani is not saying to you guys, then I respect his decision since it's not really my business." Chanwoo nods, understanding it. He silently watches as the man unlocks his door, and he's ready to say goodbye and run towards Bobby's car and call it a day, when Jinwoo leaves with an important parting words.

"I think you were given enough information, that's why you managed to pinpoint me, but you don't have to look so far." Jinwoo smiles mysteriously, as Chanwoo's mind begins to process the riddle like sentence. "I'm sorry, but I really have to go now. Thank you for accompanying me and you seem so embarrassed so I'll forget about today's events!"

"Thank you hyung, drive safe." His mouth is speaking on autopilot, his mind still stuck on the chunk of information that he acquired today. He hated that he's almost as invested as his other hyung's in finding out who Jinhwan's boyfriend is, but he had already come so far, and he can't back out now.

Jinwoo waves at him, and Chanwoo remembers to wave back before the former enters his car. He steps back when the engine starts, but he remains rooted in the same spot even after Jinwoo had rolled his window down to wish him good night. 

_ Then, does it mean that his earlier assumption is right? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hanbin's next and then the reveallll


	6. Hanbin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hanbin was somehow roped by his friends into joining their investigation, and was asked for a simple favor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unbetaed because i just wanted to get this over with. im v wordy and im at my 5k+ count so i tried not to look back while working on this because im afraid I'll unknowingly double the length again.

Hanbin shifts uncomfortably in his chair. He tried to ignore the fact that he's being stared at ever since he entered the room, but it's really hard especially when the person in front of him doesn't want to hide that he's staring shamelessly. Hanbin asked Chanwoo on what's wrong earlier when he can't bear all the staring anymore, but the younger merely shrugged and looked away. The staring stopped for a good five minutes, but then it resumed again. 

Hanbin was left to wonder if he ever did scold, or wronged their youngest for the past week for him to act like this, but his memory can't come up with anything. 

"—wasn't Jinwoo then?"

Hanbin slumps further in his seat because he should have not agreed to Bobby's request when he asked him to hang out tonight. He should've left the room upon noticing that everyone was inside except for Jinhwan, which only meant one thing— they're going to discuss on the identity of Jinhwan's lover again. He's taking back all the guilt that he felt for not always joining them whenever they hang out due to his workload, if this is what they mean by hanging out.

Hanbin tries to tune out their conversation by looking at his phone, but Bobby snatches it out of his grip and told him to focus. Hanbin really wanted to whine right then and there. 

"Chanwoo is so sure, right?" 

"Yes. I even confronted him about it and he openly declined. I tried asking around his department too and they confirmed the same thing." Chanwoo explains calmly, as his hyungs intently listen on. "He gave me some advice about just looking around us when I asked for a hint about hyung's boyfriend, and I believe it only means that the person we're looking for is much nearer to us that what we initially thought."

Chanwoo finishes his little speech with a glance at his direction, one that even Junhoe notices. Hanbin mouths a question to Junhoe, asking if he knows what's up with Chanwoo today, but he only receive a shake of his head, as clueless as he is.

"Much nearer, huh?" Bobby says slowly, as he leans on his headboard, deep in thought. "Does it mean that maybe, just a tiny _ maybe, _hyung's boyfriend is within our circle?

Chanwoo exclaims, much to the surprise of everyone. He composes himself, his ears turning a rapid red in embarrassment, before saying, "Yes. That's what I also think." 

"Do you mean someone's lying and pretending to know nothing?" Yunhyeong's voice rises higher at the end of his sentence. He looks so worked up and excited at the same time, over something that Hanbin still thinks is nonsense. 

This entire meeting and their quest to find out the identity of Jinhwan's lover has been nonsense since Day 1. He thought it'll be over after witnessing Bobby and Jinhwan's drama, and their busy schedule for the past month, but no, he underestimated his friend's nosiness and curiosity.

"Why are we so fixated over this? Can't we just let them be and find out who it is naturally? We'll know it sooner or later anyway." Junhoe tries to reason, and as expected, the rest only reject his opinion except for Hanbin who strongly agrees to it. 

"We're so near to the truth now, so why stop?" 

"So near." Chanwoo affirms, yet with another pensive glance at Hanbin's direction. Hanbin's so fed up with all the staring and side eyeing that he's subjected into for the past hour, and this ridiculous meeting, that he's ready to finally snap. Good thing, or not really, Donghyuk's arrival saved them from his impending outburst. 

"I can't find some of your snacks so I just bought whatever." Donghyuk dumps the grocery bags on the floor before throwing himself on Bobby's bed, and then crying out when Bobby's knees meet his back. He lost in their earlier game, that's why he had to buy them snacks and drinks alone, and he just got back now. Hanbin regretted not volunteering to go with him, he missed a chance for escape. 

"Ah, it's okay, those are more than enough." Yunhyeong says as he inspects the contents of the grocery, humming in satisfaction upon finding his favorite snack.

"I was surprised though, I thought y'all invited Jinhwan hyung over." 

"Why?" Hanbin finally says something, excited at the possible fact that the silly meeting will end. "Is he joining us tonight?"

"You're awfully ecstatic, I wonder why." Chanwoo's offhand comment falls short on Hanbin's ears, only choosing to anticipate Donghyuk's answer. 

"Nah, he says he's just going to buy something." 

"At this time of the night?" Yunhyeong butts in— his reaction a bit extreme for something so simple. Donghyuk shrugs, offering no other information, as he focuses on making himself comfortable on the bed. 

To say that Hanbin is disappointed is an understatement— he's actually disheartened. He doesn't care even if Junhoe joins Chanwoo in eyeing him weirdly, because he already got his expectations up only for it to be cruelly crushed down. 

"Aha!" Yunhyeong exclaims, his voice surprising everyone. Bobby curses while Donghyuk bounces a little from where he's laying, and then he's sending a glare at the older's direction. Yunhyeong only looks proud as he stands up, his chest out and smile bigger than it has ever been tonight.

"Why are you suddenly standing?" Chanwoo asks what everybody has been thinking, breaking the silence when it looks like everyone is too dumbfounded to even speak.

"Get up everyone, let's go!"

Donghyuk sits up, but he does not move anywhere, just watches as Yunhyeong grab his things in a hurry. "Uh, to where?"

"Where else? To follow Jinhwan hyung!" Yunhyeong explains excitedly, but when his friends' faces don't change, he began to explain further. "I'm sure he's set to meet someone tonight. He rarely go out at this time of the night—"

"In fact, he sometimes did—" Junhoe interjects only to be ignored, as Yunhyeong continues with his little speech.

"And we've been busy lately too, he's always with us and I'm sure he's already missing his lover that's why he plans on meeting him tonight!"

"I'm sorry, but that doesn't make sense." Hanbin begins to say, but after a couple more moments, enthusiastic replies from Bobby and Donghyuk drowns whatever it is that he has to say.

"You're right! Let's go!"

The three scrambles to get up, almost tripping down in their haste to get their slippers on. Once done, they shifted their gaze towards the other unfazed three men, still sitting in their places.

"Hyung," Chanwoo calls out, as the three nods, ready to hear why he's still not moving. "You won't find anything."

"And why is that?"

"Because the person you're looking for is here."

"Why are you looking at Hanbin?" 

At the mention of his name, Hanbin's head snaps up from his newly retrieved phone on his hands, busy on looking through his emails to keep up with the conversation in front of him. He's surprised to see everyone looking at his direction, and so he discreetly pockets his phone before it could be taken away from him again. 

"Right, hyung?" 

Hanbin tilts his head at Chanwoo's question, not having a single clue on what the youngest wants to imply. Thankfully Junhoe broke their stare off, and fortunately he's on his side, as he expresses his disagreement with their plans.

"I'm telling you guys, let the man be."

"This is our last chance so come on!" 

Hanbin, Junhoe and Chanwoo only shake their heads, keeping their ground on the situation. 

Yunhyeong stops to think of a way to convince them, but time is running fast and he still can't think of anything, that's why he asks Bobby for help.

"Fine, we promise that after this, we'll stop. If we won't find out who it is tonight, then we'll drop this."

"Okay I'm in, let's go." Junhoe abruptly stands up at the end of Bobby's negotiation, after hearing what he needs to hear. Bobby smiles triumphantly, while Yunhyeong and Donghyuk looks at him with betrayal.

"Okay, I'm in too." Chanwoo joins shortly after, proceeding to get his shoes on. "If this fails, I'm gonna have to say my hunch, with or without concrete evidence." 

"Hunch? Who?"

"Later, hyung." Chanwoo's smile is mysterious, giving them no other information aside from that.

"Fine, later." Yunhyeong concedes, before turning his attention to the still seated male.

"Hanbin, come on we're losing him."

Hanbin shrugs, unbothered, as he ignores Bobby in favor of speaking to Chanwoo and Junhoe.. "You do know that they're lying and they're not gonna stop, right?"

"Oh you lia—"

"Hanbin, please put on your shoes when we're still asking nicely." Bobby warns, but Hanbin didn't even bat an eye, silently challenging him.

"That's it. You've been warned." 

* * *

They fortunately found Jinhwan before he turns the block, thankful for his short legs. 

Bobby got Hanbin on an arm lock, as the younger wobbles on his steps, his slippers not the right fit for him, and not even matching. It's a little windy out tonight, and Hanbin only got a thin layer of cardigan and a scarf, as opposed to his friends' rather warm outer clothes. Bobby, in a way, is keeping him warm with how close he is, and so he stops complaining and trying to break free, no longer having the will to run all the way back to their apartment and risking having his balls freeze. 

He's kinda fine and he's finally accepted his situation, but he still throws in a complaint from time to time just to rile others up. 

"That's like his fifth time stopping to look at his reflection." Donghyuk whispers, as they hide behind another car not too far from Jinhwan, watching as the latter fixes his hair on a car's rear view mirror. 

"Maybe he wants to look good when he meets his lover later." Yunhyeong gushes, while Hanbin rolls his eyes at him.

"Or maybe he's just a narcissist." 

"Oh, he's starting to walk again!" 

Bobby says before Yunhyeong could say another word to support his statement. Hanbin smiles and let himself be dragged, his mood shifting to amusement, finally having a much better time by teasing his goal driven friends.

"Let's go!"

* * *

To the disappointment of his friends, Jinhwan went in on a local pharmacy slash mini grocery store and he's been inside for quite some time. No one dared to go check inside, for fear that Jinhwan will catch them, since the establishment isn't that big for them to hide in between aisles. 

It's starting to get really chilly and Hanbin has been demanding them to just go home because this entire _ stalking _proves to be fruitless, when he's abruptly yanked to the side, a firm hand covering his mouth. 

"Sorry, I'll release you but don't speak a word. Jinani is out." Bobby whispers close to his ears, and only when Hanbin nodded did he finally removed his hands. Hanbin tries to take a peek of their target, but Junhoe's big head is blocking his view. 

"Come out guys, it's really late. We could stop playing now." 

Jinhwan says as he, again, fixes his hair on the car's rear view mirror. The rest of the gang exchanged confused glances, because is Jinhwan talking to the air, or is he talking directly to them?

Jinhwan stops from bending his upper body down to accommodate the size of the mirror, and to their utter surprise, he turns to face the same car that they've been hiding in. 

"Come out behind the car. I could see you." 

At this, if Hanbin isn't as nervous as their friends are, then he would've laughed at the way they looked—panicked and guilty. They're too busy thinking of ways to discreetly disappear even though impossible, that they missed what Junhoe planned to do. 

"Hello, hyung. How did you know?"

Collective groans could be heard from behind the car when Junhoe willingly steps out, acting so casual as if he didn't just spend almost half an hour following someone. Yunhyeong is whisper shouting at him to go back into hiding, a suggestion that Hanbin thinks is fruitless but chooses not to say anything.

"He already saw us, so why bother? Come out, hyung's not mad." Junhoe says, and then he turns to Jinhwan to confirm it, with the latter nodding his head yes. "See, it's all fine. Now come out."

It's Hanbin who comes into view next, with him wrestling his way out of Bobby's arms. Then the rest of the team follows one by one, until everyone is smiling guiltily at their oldest. 

"How did you know that we're tailing you?" Comes Donghyuk's small voice. Hanbin doesn't know if the redness of his cheeks are caused by embarrassment, or the wind, but either way he looks like a child that's caught red handed in stealing a cookie from the jar.

"Why did I have to stop by at almost every car?" Jinhwan answers his question with another one of his own, and that's when it only dawns on them. He has been checking not his reflection, but theirs whenever he looked at the cars. "You'd all be terrible detectives."

"I never knew you were that smart." Bobby sulks.

"I'm not mad, but that could still be changed, you know?" 

"I'm just kidding! I'm sorry!" Bobby apologizes frantically, fuelled by the nudges and elbows that he received from his friends. Jinhwan's serious face falls, and then he's laughing at them.

"I'm just kidding." He wheezes, truly enjoying teasing them. He's in an awfully good mood, fortunately for them, or else he would have thrown a nasty tantrum. "You found nothing so you may now go."

"What's in your grocery bag then?" Yunhyeong walks forward, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. Jinhwan willingly gives his bag for 'inspection', and soon enough everyone is huddled around Yunhyeong, curious on the bag's contents.

"Soda, coffee, first aid kit and medicines?" Chanwoo confirms, after Yunhyeong returned his bag to him.

"Yes, I am cleaning my cupboards when I noticed that I'm running out of supplies, so I decided to go out and buy some." 

"You get sick often?" Hanbin asks, as Jinhwan shakes his head at him.

"No, not me. It's mostly for my boyfriend." 

Collective "ohs" echo from their friends, and if Jinhwan is quite confident earlier, then he looks a bit shy right now. Hanbin would like to point it out, but decided against it. It's pretty endearing, for some reason unknown, if he's being honest. 

"Okay, that's enough. Why don't we all go back home now and enjoy the rest of our Saturday nights in our places, yeah?" Junhoe saves Jinhwan, who looks like he's going to shrink more as the silence stretches on. Hanbin doesn't miss the thankful smile sent on the younger's way, which the latter only replies with a small nod.

Hanbin's attention is redirected back to his friends, who began to reason out. Hanbin decided to help this time, because he too, wants then to go home now. 

"Nuh uh, no buts, you promised you'll stop if we can't find any results tonight " He says, his voice a tad bit louder so it wouldn't drown on the series of complaints from his friends. God, is this how parents feel towards their stubborn children? "A promise is a promise, be a man and fulfill it." 

It takes a while, but after a couple more urging, his friends reluctantly agree to go. Hanbin is sure they won't stop here though, but right now the most important thing is getting them all home. 

Just when his friends begin to walk back, Jinhwan hesitatingly speaks again.

"Hanbin, can you stay for a little while?" 

Hanbin never whipped his head so fast until that night. He's so surprised, but before he could say his reply, Chanwoo beats him to it.

"I knew it."

Hanbin's surprise turns to confusion, because Chanwoo is back to being weird and cryptic. Chanwoo merely shrugs as per usual again, and Hanbin doesn't have the energy to feel irked at it now. Realizing that Jinhwan is still waiting for his answer, he turns to face their oldest again, while making a mental note to talk to Chanwoo later. 

"Why? Do you want to talk about something?"

"You could say that."

Hanbin waits for him to explain more, but Jinhwan doesn't look like he's going to continue any further. Though still confused on the intention, Hanbin agrees, after all it's been a while since they last sat down to talk.

"Sure."

"Thank you." Jinhwan smiles gratefully and then he's turning to look at the rest of their waiting friends. "We'll be back in a bit." 

His friends, save for Junhoe and Chanwoo, begin to walk back, surprisingly, without so much of a fuss. Jinhwan looks unsure as he stares at their remaining stubborn friends, but only after a short moment, he steps forward, blocking Hanbin from seeing his expression.

"We won't take long." Jinhwan says to the two, voice a little harder than how it was when he's talking earlier. On why it's suddenly like that, Hanbin doesn't know. "Take care on your way back." 

The two finally yield to the request, as they too, begin to walk away. Hanbin chooses to let this subtle yet strange feeling that he suddenly felt to slide, because if he doesn't, he'll surely be on an overdrive from the whirlwind of confusing and weird events from tonight alone. 

Hanbin closes the short distance between them, his hand attaching to Jinhwan's nape like a magnet. Jinhwan sucks in a deep breath before looking at him, as Hanbin gives him an apologetic smile for startling him. 

"Where do you want to go?"

"Your hand is freezing." Jinhwan notes, as a matter of fact. "Let's just get inside the store first, there's space inside and it's warm." 

* * *

"You plan on really talking to me, huh." Hanbin says, as he finishes off the canned coffee that Jinhwan gave to him earlier. They situated themselves at the back of the store where tables and chairs are lined up, and it somewhat gives off the privacy that they want to have, but that's only because not a lot of customers are coming in and the cashier disappears to probably count their inventory.

"Nah, it's out of the blue." 

"That you bought soda for yourself and my favorite brand of coffee?" 

Jinhwan stops from chugging on his soda, before continuing. Hanbin waits for him to finish, rolling his eyes when the older seems intent on emptying it. 

"Oh, it's your favorite? I didn't notice." 

Hanbin squints his eyes at the male, who is obviously lying with the way he's biting his lips, trying to hide his smile. It takes a little more poking and playful urging before Jinhwan finally admits to it though, his laughter filling the quiet store. 

"Fine, fine, yes I did plan it." 

"And if I didn't agree, what will you do?" 

Jinhwan looked at him straight in the eye, and said, "I saw you being dragged by Bobby all the way here, so I know that you didn't come here voluntarily because you're nosy. I'm giving you a way out of a possible another _ meeting _ at Bobby's place when you all get back, so you're welcome." 

Hanbin stares at Jinhwan with his mouth embarrassingly slack. Jinhwan looks smug and proud of himself, and frankly, he has the right to be because everything that he said is right. His mind.

"How do you know about the meeting?" 

Jinhwan looks at him strangely, and Hanbin feels dumb for asking. "My unit is right beside Bobby, and you all weren't even trying to be quiet in coming in." 

"Anyway," Jinhwan says, interrupting his moment of realization that yes, his friends are always the loudest. "How are you?"

"You see me in the office everyday." Hanbin points out. 

"Yeah, I see you working, but we don't really talk, aside from our works." 

Hanbin recounts the events that transpired for the past month in their office, but he can't think of anything that doesn't involve their work. He's been so busy that he could go on days without seeing some of his friends, that's why when he's invited to hang out on the start of his free days, he agreed without any hesitation. 

Such a shame that he doesn't exactly share the same interest as them—in finding Jinhwan's lover, that's why he spent sulking and grumbling more than engaging in their discussion earlier.

"It's okay, don't look so sad, I just wanted to ask if you've been well."

Hanbin wants to say that he's not sad, or that he doesn't have the same reason as what he thought he had for being sad, but decided to just keep his mouth shut.

"I'm fine. You know I enjoy working. Our project is done too, and all I need is to present it to the higher ups again and then our loads will go back to normal."

"As expected of our team leader."

"I have a feeling that it's not really the reason why you us to talk?" Hanbin suddenly says, and even if Jinhwan doesn't reply, the way he immediately averts his eyes is enough of an answer for him. He scoots a little closer, chuckling when Jinhwan tries to discreetly back away.

"Come on, spill."

Jinhwan sighs and finally looks at him, and he looks so troubled that Hanbin almost felt bad for cornering him. The keyword is _ almost, _because moments after, he's leaning forward again, only giving him space when he notices the cashier checking in on them.

Nosy bastard.

"Tell me, hyung." 

Jinhwan looks at once again, before eventually relenting. 

"I have a small favor to ask." 

"What is it?"

"Uhm,"

Hanbin watches in fascination as Jinhwan's face slowly turns into a shade of red. Intrigued, Hanbin's lips forms a big smile, intent on teasing the shy male.

"Ohhh, Mr. Kim Jinhwan is blushing, now I'm curious on what it is. Tell me."

Jinhwan sucks in a deep breath, and in one go, says, "WewillhaveouranniverssarynextweekandIwantedtoaskifwecouldcomeinlatethenextday."

Hanbin's smile turns into a confused frown, only catching to hear the first and the last words. The blush that is painting Jinhwan's cheeks only grows stronger, as he now starts to fidget in his seat.

"What? Speak slowly please."

Jinhwan glares at him, probably thinking that he's making him repeat his words for fun, so Hanbin assured him that he really didn't understand what he had just said earlier.

"We will have our anniversary next week," Jinhwan looks physically pained, and then everything slowly clicks on Hanbin's mind. Still, he feigns ignorance, urging his embarrassed hyung to continue. "And I wanted to ask if we could come in late the next day."

Hanbin pretends to think about it, putting on his most unconvinced look, and as expected, Jinhwan bought it that's why he began to speak again.

"But it's fine if you don't want to, after all work comes first right? I'm so sorry, I should've not asked. We'll just take the earliest flight back to Seoul on Sunday, or on the dawn of Monday. Yes, we'll just do that. I'm sorry—"

"Do you know that you tend to ramble and stumble on your words when you're nervous?" Hanbin puts his hand on Jinhwan's neck, to stop and soothe him. He's not that ruthless to just sit there and watch as the older run his mouth in twisted guilt. 

Jinhwan looks startled for a moment, before he starts to relax as Hanbin began to slowly massage his tense neck muscles.

"Of course I'll allow it. After all, you did so well in our project." 

Jinhwan gives him a relieved, grateful smile in return. "Thank you."

"It's not for free though. You need to answer some questions."

"Let me guess, it's about my boyfriend?" 

Hanbin nods, and Jinhwan accepts it without another word, just looks at him expectantly. Hanbin doesn't want to question his willingness, but instead grabs the opportunity to confirm his doubts.

"You said, '_ we'. _Why?" Jinhwan tilts his head to the side, not getting it. Hanbin decides to stop beating around the bush, and immediately heads straight to his point "Is your boyfriend really on our office? That's why you're asking for the both of you?"

"Oh." Jinhwan's face dawns in understanding. He must have been right, because why would Hanbin care about Jinhwan's boyfriend being late if he's not from their office? Why would he need to include him in asking for permission if he's not directly under Hanbin's wing?

Jinhwan brings him back to reality with a call of his name.

As Hanbin puts all his questions behind to focus on what Jinhwan has to say, the latter looks relaxed as compared to how he's acting earlier. 

"Wanna know something?"

"What?"

Jinhwan smiles, and Hanbin notes how he doesn't like how it looks. He can't read through him.

"He gets the most jealous of you."

As if he had just been burned, Hanbin quickly retracts his hand from Jinhwan's nape, his reaction eliciting an amused giggle from the older. He's suddenly conscious on how he's acting, because it's one thing hearing that Jinhwan's boyfriend always gets jealous (what he heard from his conversation with Bobby way back), and him being the cause of it.

Still, he is curious on what could have been the reason.

"Why?"

"He always thinks that I cared more about you. You know, how I always get all over you when you are overworking." Hanbin remembers how they used to tease Jinhwan by calling him their mom, due to the fact that he likes to nag and take care of them back then. He's always been like that ever since, and Hanbin figures that it's because he felt responsible for them since he's the oldest. 

"Which makes me sad instead of mad because he chooses to have a blind eye on how much I really cared for him."

Jinhwan's voice drops a little towards the end of his sentence, and it's obvious that this topic affecting him more than he lets on.

"And you're quite touchy too." 

Hanbin gasps dramatically, affronted that it was used against him. "I'm like this to everyone!"

The mood shifts back to a light one, as Jinhwan playfully nudges him for overreacting 

"I know, but say that to him."

Once Hanbin deemed Jinhwan comfortable enough to answer one of his questions again, he continues from where he left off earlier

"I just realized one thing. You said your boyfriend gets sick a lot, right?" He waits for Jinhwan to confirm it, before continuing. "So, do you always nurse him back to health, while doing your workload at the same time?"

"Yes. Otherwise he would have insisted that he'll just be cured  _ naturally,  _ and by naturally he means sleeping until he's well and not taking any of his meds.

"Oh," It finally makes sense to him now. Jinhwan doesn't look like he's following his line of thinking, so Hanbin generously fills him in, in an effort to whisk some of his sadness from his earlier confession. "Then the food delivered by Jinwoo hyung must have been at your boyfriend's request because he's guilty. See, you both care for each other."

"What food?"

"Remember when you slept at my office? You found your favorite food on the table when you woke up, right?" Hanbin doesn't know the exact date, but he's pretty sure that Jinhwan remembers it too. "Jinwoo hyung suddenly popped out of nowhere with those but you were still asleep, so he asked me to give it to you instead. He's saying something about you being stubborn and staying up late, and that you always did  _ that _ , but I didn't pay him much mind because I was getting ready for my next meeting."

Jinhwan goes silent for a while after hearing his explanation. Hanbin is starting to think that his plan failed and it did nothing to alleviate some of Jinhwan's worries, but then he catches the subtle lift of the corners of the latter's lips, and then it's gone in an instant.

"So that's from him?" Jinhwan tries to remain nonchalant, his voice stable but his ears are red. His eyes are shining as opposed to the blank expression that he has on, and it's obvious that he's pleased on what he just heard, even though he doesn't want to show it. "No wonder he looked quite disappointed when I didn't mention anything to him about it."

"I think I have an idea on who it is." It's just a hunch, and he's relying only on circumstantial evidence, but if he won't ask it tonight, then he's sure that it'll just eat him away. "Tell me hyung, who's your boyfriend?"

This time, Jinhwan doesn't bother to hide the full blown smile on his face.

"Now someone finally asked the right question."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> last chapter will be the final and i hope it won't take too long argH


	7. Final

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the actual revealllllllll aaaaaaaaah

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know the drill, this is unbetaed so sorry in advance for the errors!

Jinhwan isn't that surprised to find Junhoe in his living room upon returning back to his unit. The said male is watching a movie, one that Jinhwan is quite familiar with, and he's sure that the movie is already approaching the end, judging by the scene it's currently in. Jinhwan doesn't know that he's been out that long with Hanbin. 

Junhoe doesn't greet him. It's impossible for him not to hear his arrival, because the music from the movie is not too loud and the clicking of his door shut could easily overpower it. It's clear now that he's being ignored,while he's on his own place. The audacity.

Still, Jinhwan has an idea on why the younger male is acting like this, so he takes the initiative to speak first. 

"Got lost on your way back to your own apartment?"

After removing his shoes and placing them back neatly to its own place, Jinhwan heads straight to the kitchen where he could put the grocery bags down. He takes a peek at the living room to look at his visitor when he receives no reply, sighing a little when Junhoe still seems so engrossed in the movie. Jinhwan is aware that it's not the case.

Only when he sat down with him on the sofa, did Junhoe finally speak.

"How's your talk with Hanbin hyung?" Junhoe's voice is monotonous, and he's still not looking at him, eyes fixed on the screen. "You guys took quite some time." 

Jinhwan stares at Junhoe's side profile, at a loss on what to say. He decides to evade the question, even though he's sure that it'll just add more fuel to the fire. 

"I'm surprised that you joined them earlier."

"I wanted them to stop, and I'm curious on who you're meeting. Want to meet your _ boyfriend _ too you know." 

Junhoe finally turns to look at him, situates himself properly on the sofa so he's now facing him, his eyebrows furrowed and his lips twisted in a frown. Jinhwan sets his glass of water down on the coffee table, mirroring Junhoe's position, preparing himself on what's about to go down.

"Want to see if you're cheating on me with someone else." Junhoe adds, looking so serious and on edge, and it would be so rude if Jinhwan laughs, so he tries to hold it in as he scoots closer to his sulky visitor. Junhoe fortunately doesn't shy away from him, but he's still got his face bunched up and though amused, Jinhwan doesn't really like seeing him frown. 

"And? Did you find anything?" Jinhwan gathers Junhoe's hands with his, intertwining them together. His hand is cold from being outside while Junhoe's is warm, squeezing them softly from time to time until Junhoe finally squeezes back.

"But you asked for Hanbin hyung to stay and you sent me home. I wanted to stay with you." 

"Thank you." Jinhwan smiles sweetly, and he would have kissed the younger male if it's not for their tangled legs and the distance between them. He settles for kissing Junhoe's hand instead, mentally noting to just kiss him later. 

Confused, and a little off tracked, Junhoe questions, "For what?" 

"For the food. For taking care of me. If it wasn't for Hanbin's explanation, then I wouldn't have known that they're from you."

Junhoe's expression changes in an instant, immediately understanding what he means. He turns from irked to embarrassed, as Jinhwan looks at him fondly.

"I don't want you getting sick too because of me." Junhoe explains, and Jinhwan already knows it but he still likes to explicitly hear that he cares, and so he lets him continue. "You didn't want to leave me alone no matter how much I plead you to, because I also know that you've been shouldering Bobby hyung's works on top of yours."

"I'm surprised you contacted Jinwoo hyung to do it. You trust him now?"

"Hey, I'm not that bad." Junhoe answers, affronted. "I've been contacting him ever since our friends failed to answer my calls. Jinwoo hyung is nice enough to help me out." 

"See, he's kind. I don't know why you're so irked at him before."

"Because he tried to kiss you!" Junhoe screeches, as Jinhwan only laughs. He pouts at him, and Jinhwan once again resists the urge to kiss it away. Junhoe now owes him two kisses. "I only left to refill our drinks, and when I went back, he's already trying to kiss you. Now, our friends even used it as an evidence to prove that you're dating him." 

"He's only trying to steady me because I'm tipsy then." Jinhwan says the same words that he's been saying for the nth time already. "You saw if from a bad angle that's why." 

"That scene traumatized me. I thought I'm losing you to him." 

Fuck distance and awkward tangled legs. Jinhwan untangles their hands together, not failing to notice Junhoe's disappointed face at his action. He rises up a little from his seat, and then he's leaning forward, hands extended to reach the younger who now looks baffled as he watches him move.

Jinhwan's hand finally manages to cup Junhoe's cheeks, and he wastes no time in closing the distance between their lips. Their angle is awkward because Jinhwan is leaning down while he's on his knees and Junhoe has his legs crossed, his head tilted up to accommodate Jinhwan's height. 

Still, after the initial surprise wore off, their lips fell into a familiar rhythm. It's sweet, slow, and deep, and Jinhwan feels the warmth spread down his spine. He finds himself melting into the kiss, and if it isn't for Junhoe's arms supporting him then he would have had their faces knocked with each other. 

It's Jinhwan who breaks the kiss, when the need for air becomes more important than missing this kind of intimacy. He stays true to his earlier words, as he pecks Junhoe's lips twice afterwards.

Jinhwan is pleased to see the dopey grin on his lover's face, which he's quite sure that he's mirroring. Overcome with all these warm feelings for the younger male, he abruptly removes the arms that are supporting him so he could fall flat on Junhoe.

"Ah, hyung." Junhoe whines, but contrary to his words, uncrossing his legs to better support the sudden weight on top of him. "You're heavy." 

"No, I'm not. I'm tired, carry me." 

Jinhwan wiggles, trying to find the perfect position that would work for him despite Junhoe's grunts every time he moves. He only manages to dig his elbows on the latter's ribs, and so it isn't that long until Junhoe is taking matters in his own hands.

Junhoe shifts them both until they are lying on their sides, trying to fit themselves on the narrow space, a position they often found themselves in. The younger male has his arms wrapped around his middle, his back on his chest, as he clings to the sturdy arm that keeps him from falling face flat on his carpet. 

It's still, and the silence is comforting, but Jinhwan still tries to squirm, worried of his lover's arm that is placed under him. He knew, based on countless times that they end up falling asleep in this position, that Junhoe's arm will fall off from supporting him for too long. The younger male used to complain about it back then, but when Jinhwan suggested for them to stop doing it, his complaints stopped too. 

Jinhwan was aware of why the younger was still insisting for them to cuddle, and he fully intended to annoy him until he give him his reason himself, but when he finally did, Jinhwan was the one left into a blushing mess. 

_ "I want to hold you close." _

Jinhwan is pulled back to reality by Junhoe reprimanding him, his arm tightening around his middle to secure him close. "Hyung, please don't move or else you'll fall."

Jinhwan stops immediately. "But your arm."

"It's fine." Junhoe soothes, and sensing more reasons coming on his way, adds, "We'll transfer on your bedroom before we fall asleep. Stop worrying." 

A kiss on top of his crown has Jinhwan giving up on his protests. He sighs as he decides to just enjoy this moment despite it. It's been quite a while since they had a moment for themselves— their month evolving on the company's project, Junhoe being sick, and their friends' weird antics. 

The screen is still on, but the movie had long ended and it's only showing the redirected menu. They should turn it off, but the remote is out of his reach and he's too lazy to untangle himself from the warmth that engulfs him. 

"So," Junhoe's deep voice sounds unsurprisingly close to his ears. Jinhwan stops midway on trying to formulate a plan that he could do to turn the TV off without standing up. "What did you talk about with him?"

It took a while before Jinhwan understood what the younger meant by _ 'him'. _ Upon realizing that Junhoe is still hung up on what his agenda is in talking to Hanbin earlier, Jinhwan decides to have a little fun.

"I can't believe you're still jealous of him after I practically confessed again to you." Jinhwan smiles wickedly, and by Junhoe's groan, he doesn't need to tell much for him to remember. "You ran away, right?"

"Hey, hey, don't bring it up again please." Junhoe tickles his side, which only backfires on him as Jinhwan accidentally digs his elbows on his ribs. "I already apologized. And I came back immediately on that night too." 

"Still can't understand why you reacted like that." Jinhwan muses, and with a big smile and playful lilt, adds, "Surprised that I love you?" 

"Surprised how much you actually love me, and how sincere you really are."

Jinhwan could feel his face heat up instantly, and even though he's faced away from Junhoe, his red ears must have given him away. What a traitor. 

Thankfully, Junhoe isn't that bad compared to him, because he let him off easily with just a gentle kiss on his ears. Jinhwan burrows his head on the fabric of the sofa, thoroughly embarrassed.

"Anyway, answer me."

He might be embarrassed, but that doesn't stop him from letting out his muffled reply. 

"I already did, two years ago."

"Hyung." Junhoe whines yet again, an action Jinhwan realized he only did around him. Junhoe pulls his head up with his free hand, only going back to it's earlier position when he yields. "Tell me how your talk went down with Hanbin hyung."

Thinking that he had already played enough, Jinhwan finally let him know about his plans. "I asked him if we could be a little late on Monday next next week."

"Why? I thought we're just going out for dinner?"

"Change of plan. We're still going to eat out, but we'll do it at my home."

Junhoe's hum reverberates from his chest to his back, personal space has long been thrown out the window.

"At noona's apartment?"

"No, at Jeju."

Jinhwan expected his lover to be surprised, because Junhoe always seems antsy even if he already met his family for almost a dozen times already. He had anticipated his reaction, but he certainly didn't think he'll suddenly try to pull his arms back, that almost resulted in him falling off the sofa. 

Junhoe seems to realize what he's doing only after Jinhwan's hand accidentally smacked him square in the face. He apologizes profusely, as he tightens his arms around him, securing him back on his embrace. He feels as the younger buries his face on his hair, and it wouldn't take a genius to know that he's embarrassed again.

Jinhwan is aware that it's his fault—that the younger is acting this way, so he gives him time to process everything instead of poking fun at him like what he'll usually do. 

But he has always been impatient, so he feels that the silence between them was stretched for far too long when it wasn't even five minutes since then. 

Jinhwan gives him another minute for good measure, and then he's speaking again.

"Are you mad?"

Junhoe doesn't answer immediately but he feels him sigh against his hair— warm air hitting his scalp, so Jinhwan braces himself on what's about to come.

"No, I'm not." Junhoe's voice is muffled, but due to their barely existent distance, Jinhwan still hears it anyway. "Just annoyed that it's on short notice."

"There's still a week left though."

Junhoe sighs in lieu of an answer, as Jinhwan bit his lips, aware that he's being stubborn. It's not really the best time to reason out, he knows that, but his mouth moves before his mind could even process anything.

"Sorry." Jinhwan says. "It's just that, Seiyeon noona will arrive from her trip abroad next week, and she planned on going straight back to Jeju. I let it slip that we'll have our anniversary too, so she asked me to just celebrate it with them."

When Junhoe doesn't reply again, Jinhwan adds, letting the disappointment slip through his voice. "If you're not comfortable with it, I could still decline it. We'll just eat outside. Sorry for deciding immediately."

"No, don't. We'll go."

"Really? Are you sure?" Right now, their position is at his disadvantage because he really wants to look at Junhoe's expression now. "I'm sorry I'm putting you on the spot."

"It's okay. Just help me buy gifts for them."

"No need for that." 

"I insist."

Jinhwan is still worried, his mind still coming up with the worst case scenarios, even though he tries not to think about it. Junhoe must have sensed his distress, because he's suddenly ordering for him to sit up. He then motioned him to lie back down, but in a way that now allows them to face each other.

Though confused, Jinhwan complies, and as if on autopilot, he immediately wraps his arms around Junhoe too, burying his face on the former's face like how he usually do.

"Now I'm less cold."

Jinhwan hears Junhoe mutter, and only then did his worries disappear, tension leaving his body in an instant. He allows himself to fully melt in the embrace, his heart full, as he pecks on Junhoe's clothed chest before closing his eyes.

"Baby." 

* * *

Later that night, when Jinhwan was sure that Junhoe was deep in his sleep, he removed himself from the younger's arms, and stepped on his tiptoes until he's outside of his bedroom, where they relocated themselves for the night.

Once clear, Jinhwan could finally breathe a sigh of relief. He heads straight towards his living room, and then he's crouching down to retrieve the box hidden behind his TV set. 

It's a gift specially made and ordered for Junhoe for their anniversary. As Jinhwan sits on his sofa, he wonders, with a smile on his face, if Junhoe will like it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'll add a very short epilogue probably by tomorrow or today uwu thabk you for reading!


	8. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the final chapter! enjoy!

Bobby barrels through Hanbin's door, earning him a disapproving look from the latter. He only shrugs as he throws himself on the chair by his table, acting as if he owned the place. 

"Where are Junhoe and Jinani? It's already 10am."

Hanbin stops from sorting out the remaining files scattered on his desk, before continuing.

"Jinhwan hyung texted me. Their plane landed this morning. They'll be here soon."

Bobby ransacked his brain for any information that would support Hanbin's claim, or any conversation between him and Jinhwan about him flying with Junhoe somewhere before he left for work, but he unfortunately came up with nothing. 

Bobby lets Hanbin finish clean up his files, because he knows he's rude, but he also knows when it's time to step back. Hanbin looks like he's in a rush, since he's occasionally glancing at his watch.

He waits until Hanbin is pocketing his phone, before speaking again.

"Why? Where did they go?"

"To celebrate their anniversary in Jeju."

"Ah, I see." Bobby hums, but when he processed what he had just heard, he immediately stands up, baffled. "Wait, what?"

Hanbin is ready to leave, but he at least has the decency to give him an answer before he leaves.

Unfortunately, it's not the answer that Bobby needs.

"I'll go now, the VP wants to see me."

Bobby follows Hanbin through the door, annoyed and so confused. Hanbin doesn't even look back, and Bobby isn't sure now if it's the urgency because of the meeting that's why he's in so much rush, or because he knows he'll get asked. 

"Hanbin what do you mean by that!"

His officemates all whip their heads on his direction, but Hanbin still continues to walk down the hallway until he's out of sight. Yunhyeong passes by him on his way back to his own space, and curious, he asks the fuming male.

"What's wrong?"

Bobby glances at him, before looking helplessly on the hallway where Hanbin disappeared to.

"Jinhwan hyung and Junhoe."

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tldr; 
> 
> hello omg i finally reached the end after two months wtf huhu i was supposed to finish this last month, but my lazy ass could never. this is supposed to be a bday fic for myself (because whispers ik no one will yield to my request anyway) but alas, it's long been overdue. anyway im just glad i finished my first ever chaptered fic after a whopping 24k+ words /cries in wordy
> 
> i would like to thank everyone who commented! it really gave me the energy to continue. im used to not receiving comments at all (except from close mutuals), but receiving comments from time to time felt quite nice too. 
> 
> just a piece of advice tho, i heard that some writers stopped on writing due to the lack of feedbacks :(( u don't have to do it for me, but if you can, please drop comments on your favorite fics/authors! it will really mean a lot for them :(((
> 
> blabbing too much but the point is, thank you for reading all the way!!!! thank you to my mutual who read all of my writing and supported me even tho she isn't particularly fond with the pairing!!!! luv u!!!!!!!!

**Author's Note:**

> for every chapter, I'll focus on a certain member's escapades in finding out who it is.


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